THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

PRESENTED  BY 

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NORTH  CAROLINA 

BAPTISTS 


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KINGDOM    BUILDING 
NORTH  CAROLINA 
BAPTISTS 


A  BRIEF   ACCOUNT  OF  THE    ORGANIZED   ACTIVITIES 

OF  THE  BAPTIST  STATE  CONVENTION 

OF  NORTH   CAROLINA 


DEPARTMENT  HEADS 
OF  THE  CONVENTION 


EDITED  FOR  USE    IN  NORTH  CAROLINA    BAPTIST 
STUDY    CLASSES    OF  YOUNG    PEOPLE   OR  ADULTS 


I 


1923 
Published  by 


PRESSES  OF 

EDWARDS  &  BROUGHTON  PRINTING  COMPARTS 

RALEIGH,   N.   C. 


FOREWORD  ABOUT  THE  USE 
OF  THIS  BOOK 

This  little  book  is  an  attempt  to  give  a  short  account  of 
the  organized  work  of  North  Carolina  Baptists.  It  tells 
something  of  the  beginnings  of  that  work,  its  history,  its 
present  state,  and  its  outlook.  The  information  it  con- 
tains should  be  a  familiar  possession  of  every  earnest 
Baptist  worker.  Especially  is  such  knowledge  an  essen- 
tial of  well-furnished  leadership  in  our  church  work. 

The  several  chapters  have  been  written  by  the  various 
department  heads  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention.  While 
the  order  in  which  they  appear  may  be  preferred  in  most 
cases,  the  arrangement  is  not  intended  to  be  rigid.  The 
chapters  may  readily  be  studied  in  any  order  or  at  any 
time  that  may  be  most  convenient  for  individuals  or 
classes;  but,  whatever  the  order,  the  reader  is  enjoined  to 
take  them  all. 

The  book  has  been  edited  with  a  view  to  its  use  in  all 
Baptist  study  classes  or  organizations,  of  whatever  name, 
composed  of  our  young  people  or  grown  people.  The 
questions  and  outlines  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  are  de- 
signed to  be  suggestive.  They  will  be  useful,  it  is  be- 
lieved, for  individual  reviews  or  for  class  discussion,  but 
are  not  intended  to  take  the  place  of  better  methods  the 
leader  in  charge  may  have  for  attaining  the  ends  desired. 

Helpful  criticisms  and  suggestions  growing  out  of  the 
use  of  this  little  book  in  private  reading  or  in  class  study 
will  be  gratefully  welcomed  by  the  State  Mission  Board. 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  July  14,  1923. 


0 

to 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I.  THE    CHALLENGE    OF    STATE    MISSIONS    TO 

NORTH  CAROLINA  BAPTISTS 7 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Maddrt,  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary of  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Baptist  State 
Convention. 

II.  THE  BAPTIST  STATE   CONVENTION 21 

Dr.  Livingston  Johnson,  Editor  of  The  Biblical 
Recorder. 

III.  BAPTIST    EDUCATIONAL    WORK    IN    NORTH 

CAROLINA 35 

Dr.  R.  T.  Vann,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Education  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention. 

IV.  THE    WOMAN'S    MISSIONARY    UNION 47 

Mrs.  Wesley  N.  Jones,  President. 

V.  SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 59 

E.  L.  Middleton,  General  Sunday  School  Secretary 
of  the  Baptist  State  Convention. 

VI.  THE  BAPTIST  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  UNION 71 

Perry  Morgan,  General  Secretary,  and  Miss  Elma 
Leigh  Farabow,  Secretary  of  Junior  and  Inter- 
mediate work. 

VII.  ENLISTMENT  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCHES    S5 

Rev.  A.  C.  Hamby,  Superintendent  of  Enlistment 
and  Country  Church  Department  of  the  Baptist 
State  Convention. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CHALLENGE  OF  STATE  MISSIONS 
TO  NORTH  CAROLINA  BAPTISTS 

The  present  is  a  supreme  moment  in  the  history  of 
North  Carolina  Baptists.  Rich  beyond  appraisement  in 
an  ancestry  of  world-embracing  faith  and  heroic  achieve- 
ment, we  rejoice  today  as  full-handed  harvesters  amid  the 
glorious  fruitage  of  ancestral  labors.  But  more  than  this. 
Seed  time  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  never  ceases,  nor  will 
harvest  time  until  the  end.  Sowings  continuous  mean  a 
continuing  harvest.  Even  while  reaping  with  joy  from 
the  sowings  made  by  our  fathers,  we  behold  about  us  yet 
other  fields  whitening  and  broadening  and,  under  the 
moving  wind  of  God's  will,  beckoning  as  they  broaden  in 
ever  expanding  waves  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth.  And  amid  abounding  harvests  and  whitening 
fields  there  breaks  upon  us  ever  the  soul-compelling  call 
for  yet  more  abundant  sowings.  The  favor  of  God  is 
upon  us,  His  mercy  is  not  withholden.  Dull  of  mind  and 
slow  of  heart,  indeed,  must  be  that  servant  whose  soul  does 
not  thrill  to  the  call  of  a  time  like  this. 

What  of  the  task  ahead  of  us?  A  tremendous  work, 
seemingly  greater  than  any  that  has  ever  gone  before,  lies 
right  next  to  the  hands  of  North  Carolina  Baptists.  It 
presses  urgently.  Our  undertakings  should  be  worthy  of 
our  ancestry,  and  commensurate  with  our  vast  opportuni- 
ties. Will  our  present  State  Mission  program  in  North 
Carolina  be  equal  to  the  enlarged  and  imperative  demands 
of  the  immediate  tomorrow?  With  our  present  effort  and 
outlay,  shall  we  be  able  to  hand  on  the  Baptist  work  of 

17] 


8  Kingdom  Building  by 

tomorrow  to  our  children  and  children's  children,  cor- 
respondingly enlarged  and  multiplied  for  our  day,  as  we 
received  it  at  the  hands  of  our  fathers  in  their  day?  Let 
us  take  a  rapid  survey  of  the  State  mission  field  as  it  pre- 
sents itself  in  North  Carolina  today. 

A  Manufacturing  Commonwealth 

North  Carolina  is  rapidly  becoming  the  leading  State  of 
the  Union  in  manufacturing.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
century  North  Carolina's  place  among  the  States  in  the 
value  of  manufactured  products  was  twenty-seventh. 
According  to  the  latest  available  figures,  she  is  fifteenth 
with  her  manufactured  products,  valued  at  $943,808,000 
annually.  The  amount  of  capital  invested  in  manufac- 
turing plants  in  North  Carolina  according  to  the  census 
of  1920,  was  $619,144,000.  That  was  almost  double  the 
amount  invested  by  any  other  Southern  State.  In 
twenty  years,  the  number  of  manufacturing  plants  rose 
from  3,465  to  5,990 — just  about  doubling  the  factories. 
In  twenty  years  the  number  of  factory  wage-earners  rose 
from  72,000  to  158,000.  The  value  of  wages  rose  from 
$14,000,000  to  $127,000,000  in  twenty  years.  But  listen 
to  this!  North  Carolina  leads  the  world  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  tobacco.  Her  tobacco  factories  use  one-fourth  of 
all  the  leaf  tobacco  used  in  manufacture  in  the  United 
States,  and  pay  one-fourth  of  all  the  tobacco  taxes  levied 
in  the  Union.  This  State  leads  the  South  in  the  cotton 
textile  industry  in  the  number  of  mills,  knitting  machines, 
new  looms  installed  year  by  year,  operatives  employed, 
total  capital  used,  gross  value  of  textile  products  and  in 
the  variety  of  those  products.  North  Carolina  has  more 
cotton  mills  than  any  State  in  the  Union.  Gaston  County 
has  now  101,  and  is  building  others.     The  State  has  more 


North  Carolina  Baptists 


mills  that  dye  and  finish  their  own  products  than  any 
State  in  America.  The  largest  hosiery  mills  in  the  world 
are  at  Durham,  the  largest  towel  mills  are  at  Kannapolis, 
the  largest  denim  mills  in  the  United  States  are  at  Greens- 
boro, the  largest  damask  mills  in  Roanoke  Rapids,  and 
Winston-Salem  contains  the  largest  cotton  underwear 
mill  in  America. 

North  Carolina  leads  every  other  Southern  State  in  the 
number  of  furniture  factories,  the  amount  of  capital  in- 
vested in  this  industry,  in  number  of  operatives  employed, 
variety  of  products  and  in  total  value  of  output.  With 
the  single  exception  of  Grand  Rapids,  High  Point  leads  all 
of  the  cities  of  the  nation  in  the  manufacture  of  furniture. 
We  can  also  claim  the  largest  aluminum  plant  in  the  world, 
and  the  largest  pulp  mill  in  the  United  States. 

Hydro-Electric  Power  Development 

In  the  value  and  potential  development  of  hydro- 
electric power,  North  Carolina  ranks  first  among  the 
States.  According  to  the  latest  figures  compiled,  there  is 
undeveloped  in  the  State  potential  water-power  of  100,- 
000,000  horsepower,  while  360,000  horsepower  has  already 
been  developed.  Hundreds  of  mills,  factories,  wood- 
working plants,  shops  of  public  utilities  of  every  descrip- 
tion are  furnished  with  power  generated  by  the  water  of 
our  rapidly  descending  rivers.  Already  North  Carolina 
is  absolutely  dependent  upon  the  prosperity  or  plans  of 
the  Southern  Power  Company. 

North  Carolina  in  Agriculture 
North  Carolina  ranks  fifth  among  the  States  in  the 
Union  in  the  value  of  farm  products,  being  surpassed  only 
by  Texas,  California,  Illinois  and  New  York.     The  value 


10  Kingdom  Building  by 

of  food  and  feed  crops  last  year  amounted  to  $12,000,000. 
The  per  acre  value  of  North  Carolina  crops  last  year  was 
$38.82.  Only  eight  other  States  exceeded  this  record,  and 
they  were  all  Northern  States.  North  Carolina  ranks 
second  in  the  production  of  tobacco,  third  in  sorghum, 
peanuts,  and  sweet  potatoes,  and  holds  the  proud  record 
of  having  grown  more  corn  to  the  acre  than  any  other 
State. 

North  Carolina  in  Lumber  and  Minerals 

Our  State  produces  half  of  all  the  lumber  manufac- 
tured in  the  United  States.  The  hardwood  forests  of 
Western  Carolina  and  the  pine  forests  of  Eastern  Caro- 
lina yield  the  largest  supply  of  lumber  in  all  the  eastern 
half  of  the  Union. 

In  minerals  we  take  first  rank  in  many  things:  first  in 
the  value  of  mica  output  of  the  entire  country,  first  in 
feldspar,  first  in  millstones;  and  North  Carolina  talc 
commands  the  highest  price  per  ton  of  any  produced  in 
the  United  States. 

North  Carolina  in  Public  Education 

Since  1900  North  Carolina  has  made  wonderful  strides 
in  agriculture,  in  manufacturing,  in  hydro-electric  develop- 
ment, but  more  romantic  and  marvelous  still  is  her 
development  and  accomplishment  in  public  education. 
Charles  B.  Ay  cock,  the  prophet  of  a  new  day  and  a  new 
era  in  public  education  in  North  Carolina,  is  dead,  but  the 
vision  and  splendor  of  his  dreams  for  the  education  of  the 
masses  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  North  Carolina,  is  rapidly 
and  surely  being  translated  into  the  solid  fact  and  reality 
of  achievement.  Eight  years  ago  North  Carolina  was 
spending  $4,000,000  on  elementary  public  schools,  while 


North  Carolina  Baptists  11 

for  the  fiscal  year  1921-'22  there  was  spent  for  the  main- 
tenance of  common  schools  $16,000,000.  Between  Sep- 
tember, 1921,  and  June,  1922,  $12,000,000  was  spent  for 
local  school  buildings,  while  there  was  raised  by  the  sale 
of  local  school  bonds  and  expended  for  local  school  pur- 
poses from  January  to  June,  1922,  $9,000,000.  In  a 
single  year  North  Carolina  has  spent  $42,000,000  for  pub- 
lic education.  Twenty  years  ago  the  high  schools  and 
preparatory  schools  in  North  Carolina  could  almost  have 
been  counted  on  the  fingers  of  the  two  hands.  Today 
there  are  550  high  schools  in  the  State,  and  the  most  sig- 
nificant thing  of  all  is  the  fact  that  there  are  450  of  these 
out  in  the  country!  There  are  1,800  high  school  teachers 
in  North  Carolina,  every  one  of  whom  has  had  at  least  the 
equivalent  of  two  years  in  college. 

North  Carolina  in  Road  Building 

The  story  of  North  Carolina's  remarkable  progress  in 
good  roads  reads  like  a  fairy  tale.  The  last  Legislature 
authorized  the  expenditure  of  $50,000,000  for  the  building 
of  State  roads  during  these  two  years.  Up  to  the  present 
time  $36,187,000  has  been  spent,  and  2,040  miles  of  high- 
ways have  been  completed,  and  1,500  miles  more  are  under 
construction.  In  addition  to  this,  the  counties  built  700 
miles  last  year,  and  will  build  500  miles  in  1923.  Soon 
the  one  hundred  county  seats  of  North  Carolina  will  be 
tied  together  by  a  marvelous  system  of  hard  surface  roads. 

North  Carolina's  Population  Native  Born 

The  population  of  the  State  is  almost  entirely  native 
and  to  the  manner  born.  Only  seven-tenths  of  one  per 
cent  are  of  foreign  birth  and  mixed  parentage.  In  some 
of  our  mountain  counties  the  population  is  almost  entirely 


12  Kingdom  Building  by 

of  native  stock.  Almost  every  boy  and  girl  you  meet  in 
this  section  is  eligible  for  membership  in  either  the  Sons 
or  Daughters  of  the  x\merican  Revolution.  From  among 
this  fine  and  virile  stock  must  come  the  men  to  man  the 
pulpits  of  America  in  the  generation  to  come.  North 
Carolina  furnishes  more  Baptist  preachers  today  than  any 
other  State  in  the  South.  Last  year  Wake  Forest  had  48 
men  at  our  Seminary  at  Louisville  and,  all  told,  in  all  of 
the  Baptist  seminaries  of  America,  North  Carolina  has 
just  about  one  hundred  men  preparing  for  the  ministry. 
And  hundreds  more  are  in  our  high  schools  and  colleges 
preparing  themselves  for  the  ministry.  This  is  by  far  the 
greatest  thing  that  has  come  to  us  out  of  the  75  Million 
Campaign, — the  splendid  army  of  young  life  that  has  been 
laid  on  God's  altar  for  the  ministry  and  the  mission  field. 

Remarkable  Growth  of  North  Carolina  Baptists 

The  growth  of  North  Carolina  Baptists  has  been  mar- 
velous indeed.  The  first  statement  as  to  numbers  shows 
a  wonderful  growth  even  for  that  day.  In  1770  there 
were  only  9  Baptist  churches  in  North  Carolina,  while  in 
1784  the  number  had  grown  to  42  churches,  and  47  minis- 
ters, with  3,776  church  members.  By  1812  the  number  of 
churches  had  grown  to  204,  with  117  ministers  and  12,567 
members.  In  1830,  the  year  the  Convention  was  organ- 
ized, there  were  14  Associations,  272  churches  with  15,360 
members.  Two  years  later  there  was  reported  332 
churches,  211  ministers  and  18,918  members.  In  1845, 
the  year  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  was  organized, 
there  were  reported  409  churches  organized  into  21  Asso- 
ciations, with  218  ministers  and  31,066  church  members. 
In  1900  the  Convention  met  in  Raleigh.     It  was  the  first 


North  Carolina  Baptists  13 

Convention  the  writer  ever  attended.  That  year  we  re- 
ported a  membership  of  166,098  in  the  churches,  55  Asso- 
ciations, and  a  total  of  $40,075.40  given  to  all  benevolence. 
This  year  we  report  2,225  churches,  325,050  members, 
20,601  baptisms  and  a  grand  total  of  $966,940.75  given  to 
all  benevolences.  What  a  mighty  host!  In  five  years 
we  shall  easily  number  half  a  million  members  in  our 
churches. 

What  of  the  present  outlay  and  effort  of  our  State  Mis- 
sion Board?  Is  our  work  efficiently  and  effectively  organ- 
ized? Will  the  effort  and  expenditure  of  today  keep  pace 
with  the  need  and  demand  of  tomorrow?  We  here  set 
forth  in  detailed  statement  just  what  is  being  attempted 
today.  More  and  more  we  are  trying  to  organize  the 
work  of  our  State  Board  into  cooperating  and  coordinated 
departments,  each  with  a  directing  head,  and  all  under  the 
direction  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary. 

Departments  of  Our  State  Mission  Work 

Department  of  Missionary-Pastoral  Assistance.  The  pri- 
mary work  of  our  State  Mission  Board  from  the  very  be- 
ginning has  been  the  support  of  the  gospel  in  destitute 
places,  and  the  organization  and  nourishing  of  churches 
throughout  the  State.  At  one  time  or  another  almost 
every  strong  church  in  our  growing  towns  and  cities  was 
assisted  by  the  State  Mission  Board  in  the  support  of  the 
pastor.  Follow  the  lines  of  railway  in  North  Carolina 
today  in  every  direction,  and  almost  without  a  single  ex- 
ception, every  church  in  village  and  town  and  city,  was 
established  and  supported  by  the  Mission  Board.  Truly 
it  may  be  said  that  North  Carolina  Baptist  achievement  is 
a  trophy  of  our  State  Mission  Board's  work  through 
ninety  odd  years  of  wonderful  achievement.     While  other 


14  Kingdom  Building  by 

departments  have  been  organized  and  developed,  it  is  still 
true  that  the  biggest  work  of  our  Mission  Board  today  is 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  destitute  sections  of 
North  Carolina,  and  the  establishment  and  support  of 
weak  and  struggling  churches.  More  than  half  of  the 
sum  total  raised  and  expended  for  State  Missions  today  is 
spent  for  Missionary-Pastoral  assistance. 

We  have  on  our  Board  about  two  hundred  and  five  mis- 
sionaries today.  These  men  are  serving  some  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty-odd  churches  and  mission  stations.  Many 
growing  centers  in  our  State  could  not  have  Baptist 
preaching  if  it  were  not  for  the  support  of  the  State  Mis- 
sion Board.  We  are  supplementing  the  salary  of  many  of 
the  pastors  at  our  college  and  school  centers.  We  pay 
the  salary  of  the  only  Baptist  preacher  in  Hyde  County 
and  half  of  the  salary  of  the  only  Baptist  preacher  in  Dare 
County.  In  our  growing  industrial  centers  and  multiply- 
ing mill  towns  the  Board  is  helping  to  support  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  and  the  establishing  of  Baptist  churches. 

In  many  country  communities  fields  of  churches  have 
been  formed,  and  the  State  Board  is  supplementing  the 
salary  of  the  pastor. 

Country  Churches.  There  are  2,225  Baptist  churches  in 
North  Carolina,  and  at  least  1,800  of  these  churches  are 
in  the  country.  The  country  churches  have  made  won- 
derful progress  in  better  equipment,  better  support  of  the 
pastor  and  more  generous  support  of  the  general  denomina- 
tional program.  But  there  yet  remains  much  to  be  ac- 
complished in  the  way  of  enlistment  and  development  of 
our  country  churches. 

We  have  organized  a  Country  Church  Department,  with 
A.  C.  Hamby  as  Superintendent.  He  has  associated  with 
him  some  six  or  seven  men,  who  are  giving  all  their  time 


North  Carolina  Baptists  15 

to  the  work  of  enlisting  and  developing  our  country 
churches.  These  men  make  a  specialty  of  the  formation 
of  fields,  better  pastoral  support  by  the  churches,  the 
building  of  parsonages  and  church  and  Sunday  school 
equipment,  and  the  general  toning  up  of  the  whole  denomi- 
national life  in  the  country  churches.  They  have  accom- 
plished much,  but  much  yet  remains  to  be  done.  The 
biggest  job  before  North  Carolina  Baptists  is  the  enlist- 
ment, enlightenment,  and  development  of  the  country 
churches.  The  State  is  making  wonderful  strides  in 
better  farming  methods,  better  schools,  better  roads  and 
better  living  conditions  all  around.  Unless  we  awake  to 
the  crying  need  for  the  rejuvenation  and  rehabilitation  of 
the  country  church,  our  opportunity  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts of  North  Carolina  will  be  gone,  and  many  of  our 
country  churches  will  lose  out  in  the  fierce  struggle  that 
is  now  going  on  in  the  country  districts  of  North  Carolina. 

Department  of  Sunday  Schools.  This  year  closed  the 
record  of  twenty-seven  years  of  organized  Sunday  school 
work  under  the  auspices  of  the  State  Mission  Board. 
North  Carolina  stands  well  among  the  Southern  Baptists 
in  Sunday  school  work.  We  stand  first  in  the  proportion 
of  the  number  of  Sunday  schools  to  the  number  of 
churches.  We  rank  second  in  membership  and  fourth  in 
teacher-training.  We  have  enlarged  the  department  in 
two  years  by  the  addition  of  two  field  workers  and  an 
elementary  worker.  As  soon  as  possible  there  must  be 
further  enlargement  of  this  department  to  take  care  of  the 
growing  and  ever-enlarging  needs  of  our  Sunday  school 
work.  The  reader  is  referred  to  a  special  chapter  on  our 
Sunday  school  work  in  this  book. 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union.  The  finest  and  most 
effective  agency  for  the  training  of  our  young  people  is  the 


16  Kingdom  Building  by 

Baptist  Young  People's  Union.  This  department  of  our 
work,  like  all  the  others,  had  its  day  of  small  things,  and 
in  the  early  days  there  was  even  opposition.  But  it  is  at 
last  coming  into  its  own;  the  idea  has  caught  the  imag- 
ination and  gripped  the  thought  of  our  young  people. 
We  have  organized  over  four  hundred  Unions  in  a  year, 
and  the  work  is  growing  in  a  marvelous  way.  The  coun- 
try churches  are  waking  up  and  beginning  to  organize 
their  young  people.  The  building  of  good  roads  and  the 
new  era  in  education  has  put  a  tremendous  strain  upon 
our  country  churches.  What  an  opportunity  for  the 
saving  and  training  and  holding  our  young  people,  if  we 
will  only  realize  it  and  avail  ourselves  of  these  handmaids 
of  religion  before  it  is  too  late.  A  system  of  hard-surface 
roads  joining  together  the  county  seats  of  North  Carolina, 
together  with  this  wonderful  high  school  movement  back 
in  the  country  districts,  presents  to  the  country  Baptist 
churches  such  an  opportunity  as  has  never  come  to  any 
other  people  in  North  Carolina.  Not  less  than  sixty  per 
cent  of  the  country  people  of  North  Carolina  are  Baptists. 
The  young  people  in  multitudes  belong  to  our  churches; 
they  are  our  own  God-given  opportunity  and  a  fearful 
responsibility.  Once-a-month  preaching  by  an  absentee 
pastor,  in  a  one  room,  dilapidated,  out-of-date,  ugly  meet- 
ing house,  will  not  long  hold  this  generation  of  restless, 
moving  young  Baptist  life  in  the  country. 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  is  the  one  effect- 
ive training  agency  in  the  churches.  It  takes  the  young 
boys  and  girls  when  they  are  baptized  into  the  church  and 
helps  them  to  find  themselves  and  their  place  in  the  life  of 
the  church.  There  are  thousands  of  country  boys  and 
girls  in  our  churches  who  have  never  had  a  chance  to  make 
out  of  themselves  what  they  wanted  to  be  and  could  have 


North  Carolina  Baptists  17 

been,  and  what  God  wanted  them  to  be.  The  Young 
People's  Union  takes  this  raw  material  and  moulds  it  and 
shapes  it  for  service  in  the  churches  and  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Many  of  us  who  missed  the  helpful  training  of  the 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  thank  God  for  its  ministry 
with  every  breath,  and  have  pledged  ourselves  to  the  task 
of  giving  every  Baptist  boy  and  girl  in  North  Carolina  a 
worthy  chance  to  find  themselves,  to  find  God's  will  in 
Christ  for  them,  and  to  find  their  relation  to  a  lost  world 
for  whom  Christ  died. 

The  Woman's  Missionary  Union.  The  greatest  problem 
confronting  Southern  Baptists  today  is  the  problem  of  the 
enlistment  of  all  our  churches  and  members  in  the  active 
support  of  the  work  of  the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad. 
One  of  the  most  effective  agencies  in  this  great  work  is  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Union.  Wherever  there  is  a  live, 
active  Missionary  Society  in  a  church,  there  you  will  find 
a  live,  aggressive  and  liberal  church.  We  will  never  enlist 
some  of  our  backward  churches  until  we  get  hold  of  the 
women  and  the  young  people.  Wherever  this  is  being 
done,  we  are  making  progress;  where  the  women  are  un- 
organized and  undeveloped  we  are  making  little  progress. 
This  department  of  our  work  has  had  a  marvelous  growth, 
and  the  story  of  the  achievement  of  the  women  of  our 
churches  reads  like  a  tale  of  romance.  During  the  three 
years  of  the  75  Million  campaign  North  Carolina  Baptists 
have  given  $3,365,000,  and  the  women  have  given  one- 
third  of  this  vast  sum.  But  the  greatest  accomplishment 
of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  is  the  spirit  of  prayer 
and  consecration  and  enlightenment  it  has  brought  to  our 
churches.  Wherever  there  is  an  active  Missionary  So- 
ciety in  a  church  there  you  will  find  a  spirit  of  prayer  and 
a  band  of  faithful  missionaries,  studying  the  Word  of  God 
2 


18  Kingdom  Building  by 

and  spreading  the  light  of  missionary  information  through- 
out the  whole  life  of  the  church.  In  another  chapter  of 
this  book  will  be  found  a  detailed  story  of  the  growth  and 
development  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  in  the 
churches. 

Shall  We  Enter  In  and  Occupy? 

Such  in  brief  is  a  description  of  the  field  of  labor  for 
North  Carolina  Baptists  and  the  agencies  through  which 
they  are  working.  For  the  consecrated  Baptist  boy  or 
girl,  man  or  woman,  it  is  a  day  of  privilege  the  like  of 
which  has  never  been  seen  before.  Let  us  bestir  ourselves 
and  eagerly  make  the  most  of  our  opportunities  to  have  a 
part  in  bringing  to  pass  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth. 

The  Baptists  of  North  Carolina  have  a  noble  ancestry. 
Our  fathers  were  great  in  their  convictions,  rock-ribbed  in 
their  principles,  heroic  in  their  services,  far-seeing  in  their 
vision,  and  truly  Christlike  in  their  unselfish  sacrifices. 
Within  the  last  few  months  the  writer  has  read  anew,  with 
consuming  and  passionate  interest,  the  marvelous  story 
of  organization  and  phenomenal  growth  of  our  Baptist 
State  Convention.  It  was  organized  ninety-two  years 
ago  at  Greenville.  There  were  fourteen  brethren  present 
at  this  first  session,  and  a  fund  of  $220.60  was  subscribed 
for  sending  the  gospel  to  the  destitute  sections  of  North 
Carolina.  A  board  of  directors,  corresponding  to  our 
Board  of  Missions,  was  elected,  and  Elder  Samuel  Wait 
was  elected  Agent  of  the  Convention.  He  was  to  receive 
one  dollar  per  day  for  the  actual  time  given  to  the  work. 
His  duties,  in  a  general  way  and  on  a  small  scale,  cor- 
responded to  the  duties  of  the  Corresponding  Secretary 
today.  When  we  consider  the  struggles  and  difficulties 
these  soldiers  of  the  cross  encountered  and  overcame, 


North  Carolina  Baptists  19 

their  poverty,  their  faith,  their  sacrifices,  their  far-sighted 
vision,  we  stand  with  subdued  hearts  and  bowed  heads 
before  the  mighty  inheritance  bequeathed  unto  us  by 
these  dauntless  heroes  of  another  century.  Surely  North 
Carolina  Baptists,  a  mighty,  conquering  host,  have  come 
to  the  Kadesh-barnea  of  their  history,  the  border  line  of 
a  wonderful  inheritance  and  the  threshold  of  a  mighty 
destiny.  What  shall  be  the  response  of  this  mighty  army 
of  325,000  Baptist  recruits?  Shall  we,  like  Israel  of  old, 
falter  and  turn  back  into  the  wilderness  to  wander  for  a 
generation,  or  shall  we  gird  up  our  loins  and  in  the  con- 
quering strength  of  the  God  of  our  fathers  enter  into  the 
wonderful  inheritance? 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  Make  a  list  of  the  significant  things  in  the  present 
material  development  of  North  Carolina.  Do  you 
think  of  any  not  mentioned  in  this  chapter? 

2.  In  which  are  you  the  more  interested  personallv? 
Why? 

3.  In  which  phase  or  phases  of  material  progress  as  out- 
lined in  this  chapter  is  your  county  or  section  con- 
spicuous? 

4.  What  problems  of  religious  or  social  work  have  accom- 
panied the  material  development  of  your  section? 
What  is  being-  done  by  local  Baptists  to  meet  these 
new  needs? 

5.  Read  again  the  section  on  public  education.  Review 
the  improvement  of  public  school  advantages  in  your 
community  in  the  last  twenty-five  years.  Contrast 
buildings,  number  of  teachers  and  pupils,  courses  of 
study,  and  other  conditions  at  the  beginning  and  end 
of  this  period. 

6.  Has  the  progress  of  your  church  and  Sunday  school 
kept  pace  with  the  material  and  educational  improve- 
ment of  your  community?  What  are  the  evidences? 
If  not,  why  not? 


20  Kingdom  Building  by 

7.  From  the  section  on  the  growth  of  North  Carolina 
Baptists  make  a  list  of  the  dates  given;  opposite  the 
dates  write  the  other  statistics;  read  the  list  down- 
ward and  note  the  growth  from  time  to  time.  Con- 
trast the  figures  for  the  first  date  with  those  for  the 
latest.  How  do  you  account  for  this  remarkable 
growth? 

8.  Learn  to  name  in  their  order  the  five  departments  of 
the  State  Convention  at  present.  Outline  briefly  the 
specific  work  of  each.  In  which  department  do  you 
feel  the  deepest  personal  interest?    Why? 

9.  Make  out  a  program  of  important  things  which,  in 
your  judgment,  you  and  your  church  should  under- 
take to  do  next. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  21 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  BAPTIST  STATE  CONVENTION 

Martin  Ross,  one  of  the  early  Baptist  preachers  in  this 
State,  was  the  first  man,  according  to  the  best  available 
history,  who  conceived  the  idea  of  effecting  an  organiza- 
tion which  would  embrace  a  larger  territory  than  that  cov- 
ered by  a  district  association.  The  minutes  of  the  Chowan 
Association  contain  a  resolution  by  Martin  Ross,  "em- 
bracing an  inquiry  as  to  the  propriety  of  establishing  a 
meeting  of  general  correspondence  to  be  composed  of  the 
neighboring  associations." 

First  State  Organization  in  1811 

The  committee  which  was  appointed  to  consider  the 
above  resolution  reported  at  the  next  session  of  the  asso- 
ciation recommending  that  the  plan  suggested  be  so  en- 
larged as  to  take  in  the  whole  State.  The  committee 
addressed  a  letter  to  all  the  associations  in  the  State  and 
received  a  favorable  response  from  most  of  them.  Con- 
sequently, a  meeting  was  called  to  be  held  at  the  Falls  of 
Tar  River  (now  Rocky  Mount)  on  "Friday  before  the  first 
Lord's  Day  in  June,  1811."  The  organization  was  known 
as  "the  North  Carolina  General  Meeting  of  Conference," 
and  the  meetings  were  held  annually.  There  is  no  rec- 
ord of  this  General  Meeting  at  hand,  but  from  refer- 
ences to  it  in  the  minutes  of  the  Chowan  Association 
it  appears  that  its  object  was  to  secure  more  perfect 
cooperation,  and  to  promote  the  interests  of  missions. 
Missionary  societies  were  organized,  and  the  name  of  the 
General  Meeting  of  Conference  was  changed  to  "The 
North   Carolina  Baptist  Benevolent  Society." 


22  Kingdom  Building  by 

The  brethren  did  not  seem  satisfied  with  the  organiza- 
tion, and  at  the  session  of  the  Chowan  Association  in  1826 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  correspond  with  the  several 
associations  of  the  State  with  a  view  of  forming  a  State 
Convention.  In  1827  the  committee  reported  that  noth- 
ing had  been  done,  and,  on  motion,  they  were  discharged. 

Convention  Organized  March  26,  1830 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Benevolent  Society  which  was  held 
in  Greenville,  N.  C,  March  26,  1830,  the  name  was 
changed  to  the  Baptist  State  Convention  of  North  Caro- 
lina. It  is  from  this  date  that  we  count  the  organization 
of  the  Convention,  though  this  was  not  a  new  organiza- 
tion, but  was  simply  the  change  of  the  name  from  the 
Benevolent  Society  to  the  Convention. 

Fourteen  brethren  went  into  the  organization,  and  we 
think  it  worth  while  to  record  their  names.  They  were 
P.  W.  Dowd,  R.  M.  Guffie,  William  P.  Biddle,  Samuel 
Wait,  John  Armstrong,  Thomas  Meredith,  Charles  W. 
Skinner,  James  McDaniel,  H.  Austin,  P.  P.  Lawrence, 
R.  S.  Long,  Thomas  D.  Mason,  George  Stokes,  R.  S. 
Blount.  "Elder"  rather  than  "Rev."  is  the  prefix  given 
the  names  of  the  preachers.  That  is  Scriptural,  and  these 
old  brethren  stuck  closely  to  the  Scriptures. 

The  mission  work  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  Con- 
vention seems  to  have  been  done  through  missionary 
societies  in  the  several  associations,  rather  than  through 
the  churches,  and  these  societies  bore  about  the  same  rela- 
tion to  the  Benevolent  Society  that  the  churches  do  to  the 
associations. 

Meredith's  Message. 

Thomas  Meredith  was  requested  to  prepare  a  letter,  or 
circular  to  the  brethren  of  the  State,  the  same  to  be 


North  Carolina  Baptists  23 

printed  in  the  minutes.  From  this  address  we  gather 
that  there  was  strong  opposition  to  the  Convention,  and 
Meredith  does  not  mince  words  in  addressing  the  obstruc- 
tionists. In  the  first  of  the  address  Meredith  sets  forth 
the  purposes  of  the  organization.  It  is  to  plant  churches 
in  destitute  sections  of  the  State,  and  to  prepare  ministers 
for  efficient  leadership.  This  meant  missions  and  educa- 
tion. It  was  the  purpose  of  the  Convention  from  the  very 
beginning,  however,  to  recognize  its  obligation  to  the 
whole  world,  as  this  sentence  from  Meredith's  address 
shows:  "This  explanation  [as  to  its  being  a  State  work] 
is  made  not  for  the  purpose  of  eluding  any  of  the  hostility 
which  is  usually  waged  against  Foreign  Missions,  for  all 
missions  are  substantially  the  same;  but  for  the  purpose 
of  having  it  distinctly  seen  that  the  primary  object  of  the 
Convention  at  present  is  to  repair  the  waste  places  of  our 
own  State." 

There  were  those  who  opposed  the  organized  work  at 
the  beginning,  and  they  have  had  successors  through  all 
the  intervening  years.  This  opposition  arose  from  two 
causes:  The  first  was  fear  of  encroachment  upon  the 
rights  of  the  local  churches.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  Baptists  led  in  the  fight  for  separation  between 
church  and  state,  and  they  were  suspicious  of  anything 
that  seemed  to  endanger  the  authority  of  the  local  church. 
They  feared  this  organization  would  do  that  very  thing, 
and  they  were  reluctant  to  give  it  their  support.  The 
other  reason  why  some  opposed  the  organization  of  the 
Convention  was  because  they  did  not  believe  in  Foreign 
Missions.  So  long  as  there  was  no  organized  effort  to 
promote  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  opposition 
was  latent,  but  when  a  movement  was  made  to  effect  the 
organization,  the  opposition  became  active,  and  the  split 


24  Kingdom  Building  by 

between  the  Missionary  and  Anti-Missionary  Baptists 
occurred  just  about  this  time.  One  cannot  read  the  his- 
tory of  North  Carolina  Baptists  without  being  convinced 
that  the  division  came  at  this  time  because  differences 
were  made  acute  by  the  organization  of  the  Convention 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  prosecuting  the  work  of 
missions  at  home  and  abroad. 

To  those  who  opposed  the  work  Meredith  speaks  kindly 
but  very  candidly.  Here  is  the  way  in  which  he  addresses 
them:  "We  regard  you  as  Christians,  as  Baptists  and  as 
brethren;  but  we  consider  you  sadly  mistaken  and  we 
sincerely  regret  the  loss  of  your  services  in  the  important 

and  interesting  work  before  us You  may 

misrepresent  our  intentions  if  you  choose,  you  may  im- 
pugn our  reputations  and  you  may  conflict  with  our 
movements;  but  you  cannot  injure  us  nor  can  you  pre- 
vent the  accomplishment  of  our  plans.  The  improve- 
ment of  the  ministry  and  of  the  Baptist  churches  will  be 
effected  and  by  means  proposed  either  sooner  or  later." 

Mission  Board  Appointed 

Before  the  Convention  adjourned  a  board  of  directors 
was  appointed,  which  corresponds  to  our  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, and  a  dozen  brethren  were  selected  as  agents  whose 
business  seems  to  have  been  to  present  the  claims  of  the 
Convention  as  widely  as  possibly  in  their  respective  sec- 
tions of  the  State. 

Thus  began  the  work  of  an  organization  which  has  gone 
on  through  these  ninety-three  years,  blessing  the  State  as 
well  as  building  up  our  denomination. 

When  the  Convention  was  organized  there  were  fifteen 
associations  in  the  State,  and  the  first  work  of  the  new 
organization  was  to  bring  these  associations  into  coopera- 
tion with  the  State  body.     It  took  years  to  accomplish 


North  Carolina  Baptists  25 

this  task,  and  even  yet  there  are  one  or  two  associations 
in  the  State  which  do  not  enter  heartily  into  the  organized 
work  of  North  Carolina  Baptists. 

So  far  as  we  can  find  out  there  were  about  thirty  thou- 
sand Baptists  in  the  State  at  the  time  the  Convention  was 
organized,  and  this  number  embraced  both  white  and  col- 
ored. When  the  split  came  on  the  mission  question  the 
division  was  about  even,  giving  fifteen  thousand  to  each 
wing.  Now  there  are  in  North  Carolina  325,000  white 
Baptists  (and  almost  as  many  colored)  in  the  division 
which  devoted  itself  through  the  Convention  to  the  great 
work  of  spreading  the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad. 

We  shall  now  consider  the  development  of  the  organiza- 
tion and  see  the  wisdom  displayed  by  the  early  Baptists 
in  adding  machinery  as  it  was  needed.  Baptists  have 
always  been  afraid  of  too  much  machinery.  Their  organ- 
ization has  been  as  simple  as  was  consistent  with  efficiency. 
Indeed,  the  very  simplicity  of  organization  has  increased 
their  efficiency. 

Wake  Forest  College 

The  third  session  of  the  Convention  was  held  at  Reeves' 
Chapel,  and  at  that  session  the  need  for  a  college  at  which 
to  train  young  ministers  was  seen  and  discussed.  Here  is 
the  resolution  which  committed  the  Convention  to  the 
work  of  higher  education  for  men:  " Resolved  unan- 
imously that  the  Convention  deem  it  expedient  to  pur- 
chase a  suitable  farm,  and  to  adopt  other  preliminary 
measures  for  the  establishment  of  a  Literary  Institution 
in  the  State  on  the  Manual  Labor  principle." 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  solicit  funds  with  which 
to  purchase  a  farm. '  Two  thousand  dollars  had  been 
already  given  for  this  purpose.     That  was  the  day  of 


26  Kingdom  Building  by 

small  things.  Baptists  were  few  in  number  and  had  but 
little  wealth,  but  they  were  rich  in  faith,  and  when  they 
saw  a  thing  was  needed  they  determined  to  have  it,  though 
they  knew  it  would  require  great  sacrifice  to  reach  their 
aims. 

Here  the  opponents  of  the  organized  work  again  appear. 
Attention  was  called  to  a  report  which  had  been  circulated 
to  the  effect  that  this  move  on  the  part  of  the  Convention 
to  establish  a  school  for  training  young  ministers  "was  a 
design  to  suppress  the  preaching  of  those  not  favored 
with  such  advantages."  A  resolution  was  adopted  ex- 
pressing regret  that  any  person  "would  be  so  wicked  as  to 
propagate  such  scandal,  and  that  any  should  be  so  weak 
as  to  give  it  credence;  inasmuch  as  this  body  has  so  care- 
fully guarded  against  any  mistake  on  this  subject,  and 
every  person  of  the  most  ordinary  intelligence  must  know 
that  the  Convention  has  not  the  power  to  effect  such  an 
object,  even  if  they  had  the  inclination." 

The  Biblical  Recorder 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  the  session  of  the  Con- 
vention at  which  the  committee  was  appointed  to  procure 
a  site  for  a  college,  steps  were  taken  for  securing  a  paper 
to  act  as  a  medium  of  communication  between  the 
churches.  Elder  Samuel  Wait,  General  Agent  of  the 
Convention  (the  officer  now  known  as  Corresponding 
Secretary),  said  that  the  Convention  was  laboring  under  a 
very  serious  disadvantage  in  not  having  a  well-conducted 
religious  journal.  The  statement  having  been  made  that 
Elder  Thomas  Meredith  contemplated  the  publication  of 
a  religious  periodical  to  be  issued  once  a  month  at  the 
price  of  one  dollar  a  year,  it  was  "Resolved  that  the  Con- 
vention highly  approve  the  undertaking  and  earnestly 
recommend  their  brethren  to  give  it  a  liberal  patronage." 


North  Carolina  Baptists  27 

Perhaps  no  two  other  instrumentalities  have  had  so 
much  to  do  with  the  progress  of  our  denomination  in  this 
State  as  have  Wake  Forest  College  and  the  Biblical  Re- 
corder. They  were  started  on  their  useful  careers  the 
same  year,  and  have  gone  on  through  all  the  years  since, 
each  serving  in  its  place  the  denomination  in  whose  in- 
terest it  was  brought  into  being. 

Matthew  T.  Yates 

A  Board  of  Education  was  appointed  which  admin- 
istered the  funds  contributed  for  ministerial  education. 
One  of  the  first  young  men  approved  for  aid  from  this 
fund  was  Matthew  T.  Yates,  who  afterwards  became  our 
great  missionary  to  China.  We  might  as  well  state  just 
here  that  in  1915  the  Education  Board's  work  was  en- 
larged and  a  whole  time  secretary  employed,  who  looks 
after  the  interests  of  all  our  educational  institutions  as 
well  as  the  ministerial  part  of  our  educational  work. 

At  the  session  of  the  Convention,  which  was  held  in 
Raleigh  in  1846,  Matthew  T.  Yates  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry.  The  ordination  sermon  was  preached  b}r 
Thomas  Meredith  from  II  Timothy  4:2.  We  are  taking 
space  to  mention  this  because  of  the  great  work  Dr.  Yates 
did  during  his  more  than  forty  years  as  missionary  in 
China.  The  Convention  expressed  its  pleasure  at  the 
organization  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention,  and 
urged  the  churches  to  contribute  to  Foreign  Missions 
through  the  Foreign  Mission  Board  which  had  headquar- 
ters in  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  to  Home  Missions 
through  the  Home  Mission  Board,  which  was  then  located 
in  Marion,  Alabama. 


28  Kingdom  Building  by 

The  Wreck  of  War 

In  1865  the  Convention  met  in  Fayette ville.  The  war 
between  the  States  had  just  closed,  leaving  the  South  in  a 
deplorable  condition.  The  work  of  the  Convention  felt 
the  demoralizing  effects  of  the  war.  The  Recorder,  which 
was  being  edited  in  Raleigh  by  Dr.  J.  D.  Hufham,  was 
wrecked  by  Sherman's  army,  and  had  suspended  for  a  few 
months,  but  the  brethren  rejoiced  to  hear  that  its  publi- 
cation was  to  be  resumed  at  an  early  day.  A  large  part 
of  the  endowment  of  Wake  Forest  had  been  swept  away; 
$46,000  which  had  been  invested  in  Confederate  bonds 
were  lost.  Here  is  a  quotation  from  History  of  The  North 
Carolina  Baptist  State  Convention,  which  describes  condi- 
tions when  the  session  of  1865  closed:  "The  war  is  over. 
The  South  is  in  ashes.  Desolation  reigns  on  every  hand. 
But  these  fathers  'gird  up  the  loins  of  their  minds'  to 
begin  the  work  of  the  Convention  anew.  They  are 
'troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed;  perplexed,  but 
not  in  despair.'  They  began  at  once  to  'strengthen  the 
things  that  remain.'  ' ' 

Aftermath  of  War 

A  paragraph  from  the  report  of  the  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary, submitted  to  the  Convention  in  1866,  would  indi- 
cate that  conditions  then  were  similar  to  those  we  face 
now.  He  says:  "Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Episco- 
palians and  Baptists  have  hitherto  had  almost  exclusive 
control  of  the  religious  interests  of  the  Southern  States; 
but  now  Unitarians  and,  indeed,  all  the  isms  which  years 
ago  gained  a  strong  foothold  in  the  Northern  States,  are 
looking  to  our  section  of  the  country  as  a  field  already 
white  for  the  harvest." 


North  Carolina  Baptists  29 

Because  of  the  ruin  wrought  by  the  war  some  of  the 
strongest  churches  were  forced  to  secure  aid  from  the 
Mission  Board.  Two  hundred  dollars  was  appropriated 
to  James  McDaniel,  at  Fayetteville,  and  two  hundred  to 
T.  B.  Kingsbury  at  Warrenton.  "The  brethren  now 
begin  to  gather  up  the  scattered  threads  and  to  weave 
them  into  a  web  of  glorious  history." — (History  of  Con- 
vention.) 

Woman's  Work 

In  1877  the  Woman's  Central  Committee  was  organized 
with  Mrs.  J.  M.  Heck,  president.  At  the  following  ses- 
sion of  the  Convention  Dr.  T.  H.  Pritchard,  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  Raleigh,  announced  the  organiza- 
tion of  this  new  agency,  and  asked  that  the  Convention 
endorse  the  work  and  request  the  Central  Committee  to 
submit  a  report  to  the  next  Convention.  The  Conven- 
tion, after  a  heated  debate,  refused  to  request  a  report, 
and  threw  so  much  cold  water  on  the  movement  that  the 
women  became  discouraged,  gave  up  the  organization, 
and  for  ten  years  there  was  no  effort  made  to  revive  it. 
In  1886  the  Central  Committee  began  its  work  again  with 
Miss  Fannie  E.  S.  Heck,  as  President,  which  position  she 
filled  most  acceptably  until  her  lamented  death,  and  Miss 
Sallie  Bailey  (now  Mrs.  Wesley  N.  Jones)  as  Correspond- 
ing Secretary.  Mrs.  Jones  is  now  the  capable  president 
of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  of  North  Carolina. 

The  Orphanage 

In  1885  the  Baptist  Orphanage  Association  was  organ- 
ized, and  the  Orphanage  was  established  at  Thomasville. 
Orphaned  itself  at  first,  it  has  become  the  favorite  child 
of  the  Convention. 


30  Kingdom  Building  by 

The  Western  Convention — Division  and  Reunion 

Just  here  it  seems  proper  to  make  a  momentary  diver- 
sion. This  sketch  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention  would 
be  historically  incomplete  without  due  reference  to  the 
organic  division  from  and  reunion  with  our  brethren  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State.  The  Western  North  Caro- 
lina Baptist  Convention  was  organized  at  Boiling  Springs 
Camp  Ground  in  Henderson  County,  August  30,  1845. 
At  the  session  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention  the  same 
year  a  resolution  was  adopted  approving  the  formation  of 
the  Western  Convention.  At  that  time  there  was  no  rail- 
road leading  into  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  the 
Blue  Ridge  formed  between  the  East  and  West  a  moun- 
tain barrier  that  was  almost  insuperable.  The  division 
seemed  necessary  on  geographical  and  not  on  doctrinal 
grounds,  for  the  Baptists  of  North  Carolina  were  always 
a  unit  in  doctrine.  As  a  mere  matter  of  convenience  the 
Western  Convention  was  organized,  and  the  State  Con- 
vention approved  the  organization  on  the  same  ground. 

In  course  of  time  a  railroad  was  constructed  through  the 
mountains,  and  these  bands  of  steel  linked  the  two  sec- 
tions together,  thus  removing  the  necessity  for  division. 
There  were  several  of  our  Western  brethren,  however, 
who  were  bound  to  the  Western  Convention  by  sentiment. 
This  was  perfectly  natural;  but  it  delayed  the  reuniting 
of  the  Conventions  for  some  years. 

As  it  was  at  Greenville  that  the  North  Carolina  Baptist 
Sxate  Convention  was  organized,  it  was  fitting  that  at 
Greenville  the  two  Conventions  should  be  reunited.  This 
happy  event  was  celebrated  with  rejoicing  at  the  session 
held  at  Greenville  in  1898.  An  address  of  welcome  to  the 
home-coming  churches  and  brethren  was  delivered  by  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Taylor  to  the  messengers  representing  them 


North  Carolina  Baptists  31 

on  that  memorable  occasion.  Other  leaders  of  the  time 
joined  in  the  welcome.  The  spirit  of  fraternal  unity  was 
further  augmented  by  the  heart-prompted  responses  of 
the  messengers  from  the  Western  Convention,  and  the 
cup  of  rejoicing  was  made  full  in  giving  and  receiving  the 
hand  of  welcome,  while  the  reunited  brethren  sang  to- 
gether, "  Blest  Be  the  Tie  That  Binds.' '  Participating  in 
these  reunion  exercises  were  men  like  W.  R.  Gwaltney, 
Thomas  E.  Skinner,  and  J.  B.  Boone  from  the  East,  and 
A.  E.  Brown,  A.  H.  Sims,  and  R.  A.  Sentelle  from  the 
West. 

Mountain  Schools 

In  1899,  the  year  after  the  two  conventions  were  re- 
united, the  Convention  began  school  work  in  the  moun- 
tain counties — the  territory  hitherto  included  by  the 
Western  Convention.  A.  E.  Brown  was  made  Assistant 
Secretary  of  the  Convention,  with  the  special  care  of  the 
mountain  schools  entrusted  to  him,  though  he  looked  after 
all  our  denominational  interests  in  the  Western  part  of 
the  State.  The  Home  Mission  Board  took  over  the  school 
work  in  the  mountains,  and  enlarged  it  so  that  it  covers 
all  the  mountain  regions  in  the  South.  Dr.  Brown  is  still 
in  charge  of  that  important  department  of  the  Home 
Board's  work. 

Mekedith  College 

In  1888  a  resolution  looking  to  the  establishment  of  a 
college  of  high  grade  for  women  was  adopted,  and  in  1899 
Meredith  College  opened  its  doors. 

Sunday  School  Work 

We  have  not  mentioned  the  Sunday  School  Depart- 
ment because  it  is  hard  to  fix  any  definite  date  as  the 


32  Kingdom  Building  by 

beginning  point  of  this  important  work.  Early  in  the 
history  of  the  Convention  there  was  an  effort  made  to  do 
something  for  the  improvement  of  our  Sunday  schools, 
but  the  movement  did  not  amount  to  very  much,  as 
the  denomination  was  not  sufficiently  awake  to  the  im- 
portance of  Sunday  schools  to  give  the  work  the  support 
its  importance  demanded.  The  first  aggressive  work  for 
Sunday  schools  in  the  State  at  large  was  done  by  Dr.  N.  B. 
Cobb.  During  the  war  Dr.  Cobb's  activities  were  directed 
to  army  colportage,  and  it  is  doubtful  as  to  whether  the 
Convention  ever  did  a  more  needed  and  successful  work 
than  was  done  by  Dr.  Cobb  among  the  soldiers. 

Ministers'  Relief  Board 

It  was  at  the  Convention  in  Henderson  in  1889  that  a 
Ministers'  Relief  Board  was  established  with  Wilming- 
ton as  the  location.  The  Board  was  afterwards  moved 
to  Durham,  at  which  place  it  remained  until  taken  over 
by  the  Southern  Baptist  Relief  and  Annuity  Board. 

Such  is  a  brief  account  of  the  beginning,  formation,  and 
development  of  our  Baptist  State  Convention.  As  its 
several  departments  will  be  discussed  by  those  who  are  in 
charge  of  them  and  are  familiar  with  their  workings,  the 
writer  has  refrained  from  going  into  details  concerning 
these  Convention  agencies. 

The  blessing  of  the  Lord  has  rested  in  a  most  signal 
way  upon  the  organized  work  of  North  Carolina  Baptists 
as  carried  on  through  their  State  Convention  for  the  past 
ninety-three  years.  "The  little  one  has  become  a  thou- 
sand." Here  we  can  raise  our  Ebenezer,  for  "hitherto 
hath  the  Lord  helped  us." 


North  Carolina  Baptists  33 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  By  what  are  you  most  impressed  in  your  reading 
of  this  chapter? 

2.  Statistical  detail  in  this  account  is  meager  but  highly 
important.  Sift  out  and  set  down  in  order  this  sta- 
tistical information  (dates,  numbers,  and  associated 
events)  and  make  it  all  a  fixed  mental  possession.  It 
will  be  useful  to  you  as  a  well-furnished  church 
worker  to  be  familiar  with  these  facts. 

3.  The  account  deals  more  at  length  Avith  conditions, 
persons,  purposes,  difficulties,  conflicts.  Study  the 
conditions  and  difficulties  through  which  the  State 
Convention  came  into  being  and  set  out  upon  its  great 
mission. 

4.  Give  in  your  own  way  a  connected  account  of  the 
conditions  and  immediate  desires  out  of  which  the 
Convention  grew.  In  this  connection  read  also  the 
first  two  sections  of  Chapter  III. 

5.  On  what  grounds  was  there  considerable  opposition 
to  the  Convention?  How  would  you  answer  the 
arguments  of  such  opponents?  Give  the  substance 
(as  quoted)  of  Thomas  Meredith's  address  to  them. 

6.  What  two  powerful  agencies  were  the  first  to  be  estab- 
lished by  the  Convention?  Relate  the  circumstances 
of  their  origin. 

7.  Mention  some  ways  in  which  you  think  Wake  Forest 
College  and  the  Biblical  Recorder  have  contributed  to 
Baptist  progress  and  the  world-wide  spread  of  the 
gospel. 

8.  Describe  conditions  following  the  war  of  1861-'65  and 
the  spirit  in  which  they  were  met. 

3 


34  Kingdom  Building  by 

9.  Give  an  account,  in  their  order,  of  the  establishment 
of  other  agencies  and  departments  of  the  Convention. 

10.  Make  a  list  of  the  pastor  and  officers  of  your  church. 
To  what  association  does  it  belong?  To  how  many 
delegates  to  your  association  is  your  church  entitled? 
To  how  many  in  the  State  Convention?  Time  and 
place  of  next  meeting?  Find,  or  ask  your  pastor  for, 
copies  of  minutes  which  will  contain  much  of  the  in- 
formation sought. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  35 


CHAPTER  III 

BAPTIST  EDUCATIONAL  WORK  IN  NORTH 
CAROLINA 

Compelling  Incentive  in  Denominational  Needs 

We  do  not  know  how  long  individual  Baptists  have  been 
at  work  in  Christian  education  in  this  State.  But  Section 
II  of  the  original  constitution  of  the  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion in  declaring  the  "  primary  objects' '  of  that  body  men- 
tioned first  "the  education  of  young  men  called  of  God  to 
the  ministry  and  approved  by  the  churches  to  which  they 
respectively  belong."  And  in  that  remarkable  address 
to  the  Baptists  of  the  State,  which  was  prepared  and  issued 
by  Thomas  Meredith  at  the  request  of  the  Convention  in 
its  first  session,  the  first  two  pages  were  devoted  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  essential  need  of  an  educated  ministry. 

Accordingly,  the  Convention  set  itself  promptly  to  the 
task  of  establishing  an  institution  of  learning  for  the  train- 
ing of  young  ministers;  and  in  February  1834 — less  than 
four  years  after  the  Convention  began  its  career — what  is 
now  Wake  Forest  College  was  in  operation.  A  year  later, 
the  founding  of  a  seminary  for  young  women  was  pro- 
posed, but  after  considering  this  project  for  three  years,  it 
was  abandoned  because  "it  would  too  much  divide  the 
attention  and  resources  of  our  friends  and  patrons  to 
create  a  new  institution  at  the  present  time." 

But  while  that  particular  enterprise  was  abandoned, 
within  the  next  ten  years  a  similar  institution  for  girls, 
now  Chowan  College,  was  founded  at  Murfreesboro  by 


36  Kingdom  Building  by 

the  old  Chowan  Association  of  North  Carolina  and  the 
Portsmouth  Association  of  Virginia. 

While  the  main  purpose  in  founding  Wake  Forest  was 
the  education  of  young  ministers,  three  facts  would  indi- 
cate that  the  idea  of  educating  under  Baptist  auspices 
our  young  men  and  women  in  general  must  have  had  a 
large  place  in  the  minds  of  those  old  fathers:  namely,  (1) 
that  they  began  discussing  so  promptly  the  erection  of  an 
institution  for  girls;  (2)  that  such  an  institution  was 
actually  opened  so  soon  thereafter,  and  (3)  that  the 
first  year's  enrollment  at  Wake  Forest  showed  about 
three  laymen  to  one  preacher  in  the  student  body. 

One  wonders  at  such  an  ardent  interest  in  education 
under  the  circumstances.  The  masses  of  our  people  were 
disorganized,  poor  and  ignorant,  but  their  ministers  as  a 
class  were  hardly  less  ignorant.  Indeed,  as  far  as  appears, 
there  were  at  that  time  only  five  Baptist  ministers  in 
North  Carolina  who  had  received  any  college  education. 
Of  these,  three  came  from  the  North,  one  from  the  Epis- 
copal church,  and  one  was  a  native  North  Carolina  Bap- 
tist. Such  a  spirit  among  our  people  at  such  a  time  is  all 
the  more  surprising  when  one  considers  the  recent  re- 
markable awakeriing  among  them  on  foreign  missions. 
Starting  in  America  from  the  movement  of  Carey  and  his 
fellows  in  England,  the  mission  spirit  was  kindled  into  a 
flame  by  tidings  of  the  conversion  of  Judson  and  Rice  to 
the  Baptist  faith  while  on  their  way  to  Burma.  This 
manifest  call  of  God  to  American  Baptists  was  reechoed 
throughout  America  by  Luther  Rice,  one  of  the  immortal 
two  who,  on  returning  to  this  country,  spent  no  little  time 
in  North  Carolina.  The  fire  was  spread  throughout  the 
State  by  men  like  Martin  Ross,  Shubal  Stearns,  Humphrey 


North  Carolina  Baptists  37 

Posey,  and  others.  There  was  at  the  time  no  central 
Baptist  agency  like  the  Biblical  Recorder  to  spread  any 
sort  of  propaganda. 

How,  then,  shall  we  account  for  the  paramount  im- 
portance of  education  in  the  minds  of  our  fathers  at  such 
a  time?  No  doubt  the  leaders  had  read  about  Carey's  tre- 
mendous handicap  for  his  work  from  the  lack  of  college 
training.  They  had  undoubtedly  heard  a  good  deal  about 
it  in  the  mighty  appeals  of  Luther  Rice.  Indeed,  they 
knew  that  by  agreement  between  him  and  Judson,  his 
principal  business  back  in  America  was  to  awaken  the 
spirit  of  Christian  education  and  raise  funds  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Baptist  college  in  Washington  for  the  training  of 
Baptist  workers.  'Doubtless,  too,  they  had  heard  of  Jud- 
son's  message,  to  the  effect  that  if  he  had  a  thousand 
dollars  to  invest  in  foreign  missions  he  would  spend  it  all 
in  the  erection  of  a  school  in  America  for  the  training  of 
ministers  and  missionaries.  But  back  of  all  this,  as 
students  of  the  Bible,  they  must  have  noted  the  example 
of  Jesus  in  selecting  for  his  twelve  apostles  men  who,  in 
spite  of  the  taunt  of  ignorance  uttered  by  their  enemies, 
were  able  to  write  fluently  in  at  least  two  languages,  a  rare 
accomplishment  even  among  present-day  preachers;  that 
he  kept  them  under  his  own  personal  training  for  nearly 
three  years;  that  the  ablest  of  all  the  apostles  was  ap- 
parently the  best  educated  of  all ;  and  that,  in  all  reason, 
the  call  to  any  kind  of  service  involves  the  duty  of  fitting 
one's  self  to  perform  that  service  effectively.  Whatever 
the  cause  or  causes,  North  Carolina  Baptists,  in  organizing 
for  evanagelizing  the  world,  laid  the  foundation  for  that 
supreme  task  by  erecting  institutions  of  higher  learning 
under  their  own  control. 


38  Kingdom  Building  by 

Moreover,  it  should  be  observed  that  Baptists  through- 
out the  whole  South,  and  the  North  as  well,  in  starting 
their  State  organizations,  practically  at  the  same  time 
began  the  erection  of  higher  educational  institutions. 

Equipment  for  Christian  Service 
the  Dominating  Aim 

The  same  spirit  seems  to  have  animated  Christians  of 
all  other  faiths,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  The 
great  universities  of  England  and  the  great  colleges  and 
universities  of  New  England  and  the  Middle  Atlantic 
States  were  all  established  under  Christian  auspices.  "  Of 
the  119  such  institutions  first  founded  in  the  United 
States,"  says  Dr.  A.  D.  Gilmour,  "104  were  Christian 
colleges";  and,  he  continues,  "there  is  not  today  a  college 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley  over  fifty  years  old  that  does  not 
owe  its  origin  to  the  Christian  missionary."  The  only 
Christian  denomination  known  to  the  writer  that  has 
failed  to  educate  seems  to  be  nearing  extinction. 

So  then,  the  fundamental  necessity  for  higher  education 
distinctively  Christian  seems  to  have  been  a  common  con- 
viction among  Christians  of  all  faiths  and  all  countries. 
With  our  fathers,  the  supreme  purpose  of  such  institu- 
tions was  not  merely  the  promotion  of  culture.  Culture 
was  certainly  an  essential  in  their  educational  program, 
but  just  as  certainly  it  was  not  the  supreme  end.  It  was 
not  to  be  given  primarily  with  the  view  of  making  the 
student  happier  or  of  increasing  his  earning  capacity,  or 
even  of  making  him  a  more  valuable  citizen.  The 
supreme  end  sought  was  to  include  all  these  results,  but 
they  were  to  be  incidental.  The  one  paramount  purpose 
was  to  equip  their  young  people  for  the  best  service  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God.     But  in  their  judgment,  this  end  could 


North  Carolina  Baptists  39 

be  secured  only  in  institutions  established  and  operated 
for  that  particular  purpose. 

This  did  not  mean  that  the  proposed  institutions  should 
be  run  as  Sunday  schools,  nor  as  prayer  meetings.  But 
it  did  mean  that  they  should  promote  the  spirit  of  both 
the  Sunday  school  and  the  prayer  meeting,  and  should 
give  each  of  these  its  appropriate  place. 

Ultimate  Control 

The  Congregationalists,  who  were  pioneers  in  religious 
education  in  America,  seem  never  to  have  maintained 
organic  connection  with  their  schools,  but  either  lost,  or 
willfully  declined  control  of  them.  Not  so  with  our  Bap- 
tist fathers;  certainly  in  North  Carolina.  As  far  as  the 
minutes  show,  our  Convention  gave  large  freedom  to  the 
managers  of  its  educational  institutions.  Retaining  the 
prerogative  of  ratifying  the  election  of  the  several  boards 
of  trustees,  it  has  uniformly  given  those  boards  a  free 
hand  in  selecting  their  faculties,  and  the  faculties  have 
been  left  to  administer  the  institutions.  Early  in  the 
history  of  the  Convention  that  body,  on  motion,  turned 
over  to  the  trustees  of  Wake  Forest  College  absolutely  all 
the  money  held  by  it  for  education;  it  left  to  those  boards 
the  filling  of  vacancies  as  they  occurred,  only  "  requesting 
the  privilege' '  of  suggesting  names  of  persons  from  whom 
selections  should  be  made. 

And  yet,  it  is  well  understood  by  the  Convention  and 
by  the  managements  of  the  several  institutions  concerned, 
that  both  ownership  and  ultimate  authority  are  vested  in 
the  Convention,  the  organized  representative  of  the  Bap- 
tist denomination  in  North  Carolina.  So  that,  while 
wisely  leaving  the  general  administration  of  them  in  the 


40  Kingdom  Building  by 

hands  of  those  specially  appointed  for  that  purpose,  the 
Convention  has  the  final  word  in  correcting  any  evil  or 
inaugurating  any  change. 

Wisdom  of  the  Fathers  Vindicated 

And  the  wisdom  of  those  fathers,  both  in  establishing 
their  educational  institutions  and  their  general  policy 
concerning  them,  has  been  abundantly  vindicated.  We 
have  reaped  bountifully  from  their  sowing.  "  The  handful 
of  corn  upon  the  mountains"  has  produced  several  hun- 
dredfold. Instead  of  $35  for  education  sent  up  to  the 
first  session  of  the  Convention,  the  treasurer  reported  for 
that  object  at  our  last  session  $266,678.57.  Instead  of 
one  institution,  with  one  or  two  teachers,  working  in  a 
carriage  house  and  closing  its  first  spring  term  with 
twenty-five  students,  our  last  report  showed  three  well- 
established  colleges  in  the  State,  two  budding  junior  col- 
leges, and  eighteen  high  schools  owned  and  controlled  by 
the  denomination,  with  265  teachers,  4,244  students,  and 
a  total  property  value  of  $3,522,836.02.  That  report 
does  not  include  one  junior  college  and  two  high  schools 
owned  and  operated  by  individual  Baptists. 

These  figures,  however,  represent  only  material  facts, 
which  may  be  reported  accurately  by  figures.  But  they 
are  not  conclusive;  they  indicate  nothing  but  a  higher 
conception  among  our  people  of  the  value  of  learning  and 
larger  liberality  in  promoting  it.  The  deeper  and  finer 
results,  however,  cannot  be  reported.  One  can  only 
ponder  on  the  thousands  of  young  ministers  and  mission- 
aries who  have  been  trained  and  sent  forth  from  these  in- 
stitutions, and  the  multiplied  thousands  of  young  laymen 
and  women  who  have  gone  out  from  them  as  His  servants, 
to  occupy  responsible  positions  in  church  and  state,  giving 


North  Carolina  Baptists  41 

their  best  to  the  service  of  our  King.  Such  results  cannot 
be  computed  by  human  figures.  To  appraise  them 
properly,  we  must  wait  until  "the  books  are  opened." 

It  was  for  such  results  that  our  fathers  planned  and 
builded  with  humble  beginnings.  But  they  rejoiced  to 
see  this  day;  and  one  likes  to  think  "they  see  it  and  are 
glad." 

Original  Ideals  Unchanged 

It  is  pertinent  to  inquire  whether  the  original  purpose 
of  our  fathers  is  still  maintained  in  our  Baptist  schools. 
It  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  their  ideals  still  live  in  the 
minds  of  the  denomination,  and  still  dominate  those  who 
control  their  schools  and  colleges.  While  the  curricula 
and  equipment  have  been  greatly  enlarged,  and  other 
courses  have  been  added,  looking  toward  broader  train- 
ing, the  dominant  purpose  in  all  our  institutions  is  dis- 
tinctly religious,  and  they  recognize  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as 
their  headmaster.  They  still  hold  that  "the  soul  of  cul- 
ture is  the  culture  of  the  soul.' '  For  example,  ministerial 
education  held  first  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  fathers.  The 
report  to  the  last  Convention  showed  ministerial  students 
not  only  in  Wake  Forest  College,  the  institution  that  they 
founded,  but  in  every  high  school  save  two,  a  total  of  203. 
While  the  first  session  of  the  Convention  reported  no 
volunteers  for  missions  at  Wake  Forest,  the  last  report 
showed  an  enrollment  of  124  such  volunteers  in  our  Bap- 
tist institutions  in  this  State.  During  its  second  3rear 
Wake  Forest  reported  a  remarkable  revival  of  religion 
among  its  students.  Each  of  our  four  colleges  and  all  the 
high  schools  save  one  reported  similar  works  of  grace 
among  their  students,  resulting  in  299  baptisms.  In 
meetings  held  by  Wake  Forest  students  in  the  summer  of 


42  Kingdom  Building  by 

1921  (date  of  latest  report),  there  were  405  professions  of 
faith.  And  the  "faith  of  our  fathers"  is  still  maintained 
and  defended  in  these  institutions. 

Not  all  students  leaving  our  Baptist  institutions,  of 
course,  are  worthy  workers  in  their  home  churches;  nor 
would  it  be  fair  to  demand  such  an  output  from  the 
schools  until  we  can  make  a  like  showing  in  our  churches. 
We  should  not  expect  a  higher  average  of  piety  among 
college  students  than  we  find  among  young  people  of  the 
same  age  at  home.  Some,  no  doubt,  return  from  college 
even  less  devout  and  less  helpful  than  they  were  when 
they  entered.  But  does  not  this  happen  in  quite  as  large 
a  degree  among  our  young  people  as  they  grow  older,  even 
though  they  have  never  been  to  college?  And  when  some 
students  return  with  their  faith  apparently  shaken,  is  it 
fair  to  blame  the  college  for  these,  when  we  see  so  many 
similar  cases  among  those  who  never  attended  college? 
President  Mullins,  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological 
Seminary,  and  President  Scarborough,  of  the  Southwest- 
ern Seminary,  have  each  stated,  "  We  have  never  had  a 
ministerial  student  coming  to  us  from  Wake  Forest  who 
showed  the  slightest  sign  of  wobbling  in  the  Baptist 
faith.' '  We  do  not  generally  blame  the  churches  for  the 
failures  among  their  members  of  whatever  kind,  and  it 
seems  only  fair  to  judge  the  colleges  by  the  same  standard. 
Alas,  we  must  look  for  lapses  in  both  faith  and  practice 
among  our  young  people,  and  also  among  their  elders, 
until  "that  which  is  perfect  is  come.' ' 

Need  for  Christian  Institutions  Unabated 

Instead  of  abating,  the  need  for  the  education  given  by 
Christian  institutions  seems  rather  to  be  increasing.  This 
is  true  as  to  our  churches.     It  is  generally  understood 


North  Carolina  Baptists  43 

now  that  Christian  institutions  furnish  nine-tenths  of  our 
college-trained  ministers  and  missionaries;  but  it  is  not 
so  generally  understood  that,  as  far  as  investigation  has 
shown,  about  that  same  proportion  holds  with  regard  to 
our  college-trained  Christian  laymen. 

Moreover,  under  the  State's  compulsory  educational 
policy,  the  succeeding  generations,  becoming  more  and 
more  intelligent,  will  demand  still  more  trained  ministers 
and  Sunday  school  teachers — for  whom,  as  we  have  seen, 
we  must  depend  mainly  on  our  own  school ;  and  unless  we 
furnish  them  we  cannot  hope  to  retain  our  hold  on  the 
masses  or  make  any  effective  appeal  to  them.  For,  how- 
ever orthodox  and  pious,  ignorance  will  never  attract  in- 
telligence. 

The  State's  need  of  distinctively  Christian  education  is 
likewise  undiminished.  Private  beneficence  now  main- 
tains 447  out  of  the  574  colleges  and  universities  in  Amer- 
ica. At  last  reports,  these  privately  supported  institu- 
tions had  twice  as  much  money  invested  as  did  those 
owned  by  the  State;  they  enrolled  33,912  students,  as 
against  14,235  enrolled  in  State  institutions,  and  they  had 
9,932  students  of  college  grade,  as  against  9,517  in  State 
institutions.  These  facts  mean  that  if  the  denomina- 
tional institutions  were  abolished,  the  State  would  have 
to  treble  its  appropriations  for  building,  equipment  and 
teaching. 

A  large  majority  of  our  leaders  in  the  State  and  Nation, 
including  judges,  governors,  congressmen,  senators  and 
presidents,  who  have  attended  college  at  all,  have  been 
the  product  of  Christian  institutions.  When  William 
Howard  Taft  graduated  from  Yale  it  was  a  Congregational 
college ;  and  when  Woodrow  Wilson  left  Princeton  it  was 
a  Presbyterian  institution. 


44  Kingdom  Building  by 

But  I  have  chiefly  in  mind  the  moral  type  of  public  ser- 
vants prepared  by  the  denominational  colleges,  and 
needed  by  the  State.  Edward  G.  Sisson  says,  "The final 
question  regarding  education  is  whether  it  avails  to  pro- 
vide the  type  of  character  required  by  the  republic  and 
the  race.' '  A  recent  editorial  in  the  New  York  Times,  in 
respect  to  the  large  amounts  spent  for  higher  education, 
made  this  pertinent  inquiry:  "Does  it  pay,  not  in  dollars 
and  cents,  but  in  intellectual  and  moral  values?' ' 

Now  if  State  education,  necessarily  given  apart  from 
the  direct  influence  of  religion,  can  produce  the  highest 
"moral  values' '  as  well  as  that  given  under  direct  religious 
influence,  we  have  labored  in  vain,  and  our  "faith  is  also 
vain."  Vice-President  Marshall  was  reported  to  have 
said  in  a  public  address,  which  report  he  confirmed  in  a 
personal  letter  to  the  writer:  "In  the  future  our  country 
must  depend  for  its  leaders  mainly  upon  the  output  of  our 
Christian  colleges.  Because  this  country  will  no  longer 
elect  men  of  low  character  to  high  office;  and  since  Chris- 
tian colleges  are  maintained  principally  with  a  view  to  pro- 
ducing high  religious  character,  they  are  more  likely  to 
produce  such  character  than  are  State  colleges,  which  can 
have  no  such  purpose.' '  And  State  educators  themselves 
are  realizing  so  keenly  the  essential  value  of  religion  in  all 
education  that  they  are  endeavoring  in  some  way,  with- 
out violating  our  State  and  federal  constitutions,  to  intro- 
duce religious  training  into  their  courses. 

But  we  must  consider  chiefly  our  own  children;  and 
certainly  their  need  of  religious  training  in  the  crucial 
years  of  high  school  and  college  has  not  in  the  least 
abated.  They  are  entitled  to  the  best  advantages  we 
can  give  them  and  to  the  best  influences  with  which  we 
can  surround  them.  And  if  the  Christian  school  is  func- 
tioning in  any  worthy  way,  it  stands  to  reason  that  in 


North  Carolina  Baptists  45 

spite  of  occasional  lapses,  its  religious  advantages  should 
far  outweigh  those  of  an  institution  whose  purpose  is  dis- 
tinctly non-religious  and  in  which  religious  training  cannot 
be  given. 

Says  Dr.  Clarke,  of  the  College  Board  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church :  "  The  only  kind  of  school  which  Christians 
are  committed  to  in  this  world  is  not  an  organism  without 
religion,  nor  even  an  organism  with  a  religious  appendage, 
but  an  institution  which  is  itself  a  religious  community 
.  .  .  which  can  help  men  go  forth  with  their  lives  and 
affections  so  fashioned  that  they  will  live  in  harmony  with 
the  will  of  God." 

If,  as  the  Minister  of  Education  in  England  said  during 
the  darkest  period  of  the  world  war,  "education  is  the 
eternal  debt  which  maturity  owes  to  youth,"  it  would 
seem  that  a  Christian  could  not  fully  discharge  that  obliga- 
tion to  his  own  child  by  giving  him  a  type  of  education 
that  must  ignore  his  Christ;  and  that  obligation  must 
surely  become  more  sacred  to  him  when  he  marks  the 
manifest  tendency  in  non-Christian  institutions,  not  only 
to  ignore  the  Christ,  but  to  deny  the  existence  of  his 
Father. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  What  urgent  need  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  Con- 

vention to  the  establishment  of  a  college  for  young 
men? 

2.  Why  was  not  a  school  for  young  women  established  at 
the  same  time? 

3.  What  three  circumstances  reflect  the  deep  interest  of 
our  early  Baptist  organizers  in  the  education  of 
young  men  and  women  under  denominational 
auspices? 


46  Kingdom  Building  by 

4.  Outline  the  conditions  under  which  the  work  of 
Christian  education  was  begun  and  account  for  the 
ardent  interest  of  its  promoters. 

5.  Discuss  the  supreme  purpose  and  incidental  aims  of 
these  early  advocates  of  Christian  education. 

6.  Outline  the  method  of  administration  and  ultimate 
control  of  the  denominational  schools.  What  are 
some  of  the  evidences  of  the  wisdom  of  this  plan? 

7.  Show  how  the  ideals  of  the  early  advocates  of  Chris- 
tian education  are  being  realized  in  our  Baptist 
schools  today. 

8.  Are  you  in  agreement  with  writer's  conclusions  in  the 
two  closing  sections?  Give  the  reasons  why  with  re- 
spect to  (1)  the  churches,  (2)  the  State,  and  (3)  the 
children,  the  need  for  Christian  education  appears 
to  be  in  no  wise  diminished. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  47 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   WOMAN'S   MISSIONARY  UNION 

1886-1923 

I.     Its  Beginnings 

It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  there  were  woman's  mis- 
sionary societies  in  North  Carolina  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century;  one  at  Fayetteville,  organized  in  1815 
or  1816;  one  in  Edenton,  organized  in  1817;  one  at 
Raleigh,  organized  in  1818;  and  one  at  Spring  Hill 
Church,  Robeson  County,  probably  organized  about  the 
same  time.  But  there  was  no  organized  work  until  1877, 
when  a  Woman's  Central  Committee  of  Missions  was 
formed  with  Mrs.  J.  M.  Heck,  President,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Scar- 
borough, Corresponding  Secretary,  and  Mrs.  Robert 
Lewis,  Recording  Secretary.  The  organization  of  this 
committee  was  reported  to  the  Baptist  State  Convention 
at  the  annual  meeting  in  Durham  by  Rev.  T.  H.  Pritch- 
ard,  D.D.,  who  had  been  instrumental  in  organizing  the 
committee.  Dr.  Pritchard  offered  a  resolution  commend- 
ing this  work,  and  asking  that  the  committee  be  allowed 
to  cooperate  in  the  work  of  the  Convention  and  make  an 
annual  report  to  that  body.  This  called  for  a  heated  dis- 
cussion, and  so  much  opposition  to  any  organized  work  of 
the  women  in  the  churches  was  manifested  that  it  was 
thought  best  for  the  committee  to  disband. 

Ten  years  later  the  Stale  Mission  Board  at  the  sugges- 
gestion  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  through  their  State 
Vice-President,   Dr.   Theodore  Whitfield,   at   that   time 


48  Kingdom  Building  by 

pastor  at  New  Bern,  appointed  a  Woman's  Central  Com- 
mittee of  Missions,  with  headquarters  in  Raleigh,  N.  C, 
whose  purpose  should  be  to  stimulate  the  missionary  spirit 
and  the  grace  of  giving  among  the  women  and  children  of 
the  churches  and  to  aid  in  the  collection  of  funds  for  mis- 
sionary purposes.  Similar  committees  had  been  organized 
in  other  States  at  this  time,  and  the  success  that  had  attend- 
ed their  work  had  done  much  to  do  away  with  the  opposi- 
tion to  woman's  work  in  North  Carolina.  The  following 
officers  were  appointed  by  the  Board :  Miss  Fannie  E.  S. 
Heck,  President;  Miss  Sallie  Bailey  (now  Mrs.  Wesley  N. 
Jones),  Corresponding  Secretary;  Miss  Lida  McDaniel, 
Recording  Secretary;  and  Mrs.  T.  H.  Briggs,  Treasurer. 
Twelve  ladies  from  the  two  Baptist  churches  of  Raleigh 
were  appointed  members  of  this  committee.  Three  mem- 
bers of  the  original  committee  have  served  continuously 
since  its  organization  in  January,  1886:  Mrs.  N.  B. 
Broughton,  Mrs.  T.  H.  Briggs,  and  Mrs.  W.  N.  Jones. 
Miss  Heck  served  as  President  from  the  beginning  until 
her  death  in  August,  1915.  To  her  untiring  and  splendid 
services  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  not  only  in  North 
Carolina,  but  in  the  entire  South,  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude, 
for  much  of  the  success  of  the  work  today  is  due  to  her 
wise  and  consecrated  leadership.  The  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Union  will  stand  as  an  enduring  monument  to  the  love 
and  loyalty  of  her  who  put  the  things  that  are  eternal 
first  in  her  heart  and  life. 

When  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union,  Auxiliary  to  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention ,  was  organized  in  Richmond, 
Virginia,  in  1888,  Miss  Heck,  President  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Union,  was  present ;  but  our  Union  did  not  become  a 
part  of  that  organization  until  1891,  as  there  was  still  op- 
position on  the  part  of  some  to  organized  woman's  work  for 
missions.     For  many  years  all  the  work  of  the  Union  was 


North  Carolina  Baptists  49 

done  in  the  homes  of  the  officers,  and  was  a  voluntary- 
service.  By  1910  the  work  had  grown  to  such  an  extent 
that  an  office  was  rented  and  one  officer  was  employed  for 
full  time.  When  the  Biblical  Recorder  completed  its  new 
building,  a  year  later,  the  office  was  moved  to  our  present 
headquarters. 

II.  Its  Organization 
Today,  after  thirty-seven  years  of  active  work,  we  have 
a  complete  organization  in  our  State  and  a  graded  system 
of  societies  that  extends  from  the  little  children  to  the 
oldest  of  our  women.  There  are  five  divisions,  each  under 
the  direction  of  a  Vice-President:  the  Elizabeth  City 
Division  composed  of  the  Chowan,  Neuse-Atlantic,  Roa- 
noke and  West  Chowan  Associations;  the  Wilmington 
Division,  including  the  Bladen,  Brunswick,  Cape  Fear- 
Columbus,  Cumberland,  Eastern,  Johnston,  Little  River, 
Robeson,  South  River  and  Wilmington  Associations;  the 
Greensboro  Division  composed  of  Beulah,  Central,  Flat 
River,  Mount  Zion,  Piedmont,  Raleigh,  Sandy  Creek,  and 
Tar  River.  The  Charlotte  Division  has  the  largest  num- 
ber of  associations  within  its  borders  and  covers  more  terri- 
tory. In  it  are  the  following  associations:  Brushy  Moun- 
tain, Caldwell,  Catawba  River,  Gaston,  Green  River, 
Kings  Mountain,  Liberty,  Mecklenburg-Cabarrus,  Mont- 
gomery, Pee  Dee,  Pilot  Mountain,  Sandy  Run,  South 
Fork,  South  Yadkin,  Stanly,  Stony  Fork,  Stone  Moun- 
tain, Surry,  Union  and  Yadkin.  The  Asheville  Division 
covers  all  territory  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  includes 
the  following  associations:  Ashe,  Avery,  Buncombe, 
Carolina,  French  Broad,  Haywood,  Macon,  Mitchell 
County,  Tennessee  River,  Three  Forks,  Tuckasiegee, 
Transylvania,  Western  North  Carolina  and  Yancey. 
4 


50  Kingdom  Building  by 

Each  of  these  associations  has  a  superintendent  in 
charge  of  the  work  in  its  boundaries.  Many  of  them  have 
Young  Woman's  Auxiliary  and  Junior  Superintendents 
actively  at  work.  The  plan  of  organization  of  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Union  includes  in  each  association 
a  Superintendent,  a  Young  Woman's  Auxiliary  and  Junior 
Superintendent,  a  Mission  Study  Leader,  and  a  Personal 
Service  Chairman.  These  constitute  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Association.  Each  Association  holds  an 
annual  meeting  and  Division  Meetings  are  held  each  year 
by  the  Vice-President,  except  in  the  Division  in  which  the 
State  Meeting  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  is  held. 

III.     Its  Departments  of  Work 

The  first  work  of  the  Central  Committee  was  the  organ- 
ization of  Woman's  Missionary  Societies.  When  the 
present  Executive  Committee  was  formed  there  were  less 
than  ten  active  Woman's  Missionary  Societies  in  the 
State.  Today  there  are  1,022  with  a  constituency  of  over 
thirty  thousand  women.  The  organization  of  a  Woman's 
Missionary  Society  in  a  church  results  not  only  in  in- 
creased gifts  and  interest  in  missions  on  the  part  of  the 
women  of  the  church,  but  in  the  entire  church  member- 
ship. It  is  the  purpose  and  plan  of  the  Union  to  enlist 
every  woman  in  our  Churches  in  this  work.  A  Standard 
of  Excellence  has  been  established  by  which  we  measure 
the  efficiency  of  our  societies,  and  societies  are  graded 
A,  B,  C,  D,  by  the  number  of  points  they  attain  on  this 
Standard. 

Young  People's  Work.  There  are  two  departments  of 
work  for  young  people  under  the  direction  of  the  Union: 
(1)  the  work  for  the  Young  Women  and  Girls  through  the 
Young  Woman's  Auxiliaries  and  Girls'  Auxiliaries  under 


North  Carolina  Baptists  51 

the  direction  of  Mrs.  R.  N.  Simms;  and  (2)  the  work  for 
the  children  and  boys  through  our  Sunbeam  and  Royal 
Ambassador  Bands  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Elizabeth 
N.  Briggs.  North  Carolina  led  the  other  States  in  our 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  in  gifts  from  our  young 
people  the  past  year.  There  are  at  present  238  Young 
Woman's  Auxiliaries,  201  Girls'  Auxiliaries,  660  Sunbeam 
Bands,  and  136  Royal  Ambassador  Chapters.  The  gifts 
of  the  Young  Woman's  Auxiliaries  and  Girls'  Auxiliaries 
in  1922  amounted  to  $34,443.75;  the  gifts  of  the  Sun- 
beams and  Royal  Ambassadors  to  $16,773.84.  The  Sun- 
beam work  was  organized  in  1897,  and  Miss  Elizabeth  N. 
Briggs  has  served  as  leader  continuously  for  twenty-six 
years.  Miss  M.  K.  Applewhite,  who  became  Mrs.  J.  Y. 
Killian*,  was  the  first  superintendent  of  Young  Woman's 
work.  She  served  for  six  years,  Miss  Ellen  Graham  (now 
Mrs.  John  Calvert)  for  two,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Bunn  for  one, 
Mrs.  C.  E.  Mason  for  four,  and  Mrs.  R.  N.  Simms,  the 
present  leader,  has  completed  five  years  of  service. 

Personal  Service.  Under  the  Department  of  Personal 
Service — Mrs.  C.  E.  Maddry,  Chairman — the  Union 
fosters  the  work  of  Good  Will  Centers,  cooperation  with 
the  Inter-Racial  Committee  to  secure  better  housing, 
school  facilities,  and  more  complete  Christianization  for 
the  negro,  work  among  the  illiterates,  relief  of  the  needy 
in  our  own  communities,  visits  to  sick,  and  organized 
effort  to  reach  the  unsaved  in  our  midst.  No  money  ex- 
pended in  Personal  Service  work  is  included  in  the  reports 
of  the  Union. 

Bible  and  Mission  Study.  From  the  beginning  the 
Union  has  emphasized  the  importance  of  Bible  and  Mis- 
sion study:    Bible  study,  that  we  might  be  filled  with  the 


•Died   January  12,  1923. 


52  Kingdom  Building  by 

knowledge  of  His  will  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual  under- 
standing; Mission  study,  that  we  might  increase  in  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  the  progress  of  His  Kingdom  on 
earth,  and  be  fruitful  in  every  good  work.  In  the  last  few 
years  there  has  come  a  new  impetus  to  our  Mission  Study 
work  through  our  Mission  Study  leaders  and  a  more  thor- 
ough organization.  It  is  recommended  that  each  society 
have  at  least  one  Mission  Study  class  a  year,  and  prefer- 
ably two.  Definite  courses  of  study  have  been  arranged 
for  and  certificates  and  seals  awarded  to  those  completing 
the  various  courses.  The  first  course  calls  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  following  books:  All  the  World  in  All  the 
Word,  Stewardship  and  Missions,  In  Royal  Service, 
W.  M.  U.  Manual  of  Methods,  a  book  on  Foreign  Missions, 
and  a  book  on  Home  Missions.  Seals  are  awarded  on  the 
completion  of  each  book,  and  when  the  course  is  completed 
the  large  seal  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention  is  attached.  Additional 
courses  have  been  planned  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  depart- 
ments of  our  work.  At  this  time  3,844  certificates  have 
been  awarded,  and  5,193  seals.  Complete  records  are 
kept  of  all  classes  and  Mission  Study  awards.  Books  for 
study  are  recommended  each  year  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

Literature.  The  Union  recognizes  the  value  of  the 
printed  page,  and  thousands  of  tracts  and  leaflets  are  dis- 
tributed each  year.  In  the  early  years  of  the  work,  a 
little  paper  called  The  Missionary  Talk,  with  this  motto 
text,  "The  Lord  gave  the  word;  great  was  the  company 
of  those  that  published  it,"  was  begun  by  Miss  Heck  and 
carried  missionary  news  into  many  homes.  The  Woman's 
Missionary  Union  of  Southern  Baptist  Convention  pub- 
ishes  two  magazines   especially  for  our  woman's  work. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  53 

The  first,  In  Royal  Service,  contains  programs  for  meet- 
ings and  much  valuable  material  for  use  in  our  societies. 
The  second,  World  Comrades,  is  a  new  publication,  and  is 
intended  to  meet  the  needs  of  our  young  people's  organ- 
izations. With  these  magazines  it  is  possible  to  have  in- 
teresting and  instructive  missionary  programs  in  remote 
districts  where  there  is  no  access  to  libraries  or  other 
sources  of  information  about  the  work.  Special  litera- 
ture is  prepared  and  distributed  for  the  Week  of  Prayer 
for  World  Wide  Missions  the  first  week  in  January,  the 
Week  of  Prayer  for  Home  Missions  in  March,  and  for 
State  Mission  Day  in  September.  All  societies  are  urged 
to  subscribe  to  our  State  paper,  The  Biblical  Recorder, 
whose  columns  have  been  open  to  the  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Union  for  many  years,  and  whose  editors  have  given 
continual  and  valuable  support  to  our  Union.  Our 
mission  magazine,  Home  and  Foreign  Fields,  is  recognized 
as  an  important  factor  in  our  effort  to  disseminate  mis- 
sionary information,  and  has  a  large  number  of  subscrip- 
tions among  our  constituency. 

Woman's  Missionary  Union  Training  School  at  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky.  The  Woman's  Missionary  Union  Train- 
ing School  stands  as  a  monument  to  the  love  and  faith  of 
the  Baptist  women  of  the  South.  There  have  gone  out 
from  its  doors  in  the  brief  years  of  its  history  nearly  four 
hundred  graduate  students  who  are  carrying  the  light  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ  within  the  bounds  of  our  own  land  and 
to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  world.  From  North  Caro- 
lina we  have  had  eighty  students  at  the  Training  School. 
The  following  are  working  on  the  foreign  field : 

Miss  Alda  Grayson,  Laichow-Fu,  China;  Miss  Pearle 
Johnson,  Shanghai,  China;  Miss  Cora  Caudle,  Abeokuta, 
Africa;  Miss  Naomi  Schell,  Fukuoka,  Japan;   Miss  Katie 


54  Kingdom  Building  by 

Murray,  Chengchow,  China;  Mrs.  C.  A.  Leonard,  Lai- 
chow-Fu,  China;  Mrs.  M.  T.  Rankin,  Canton,  China; 
Mrs.  L.  E.  Blackman,  Yang  Chow,  China;  Mrs.  L.  B. 
Olive,  Chinkiang,  China. 

The  following  scholarships  have  been  established  at  the 
Training  School:  The  Louis  Castlebury  Scholarship, 
established  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Layton,  in  mem- 
ory of  her  father;  a  yearly  scholarship  established  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  F.  B.  Hamrick  of  Thomasville,  and  a  number  of 
associational  scholarships.  Close  to  the  hearts  of  our 
women  lies  this  institution  that  Miss  Heck  dreamed  of 
and  planned  for  during  the  long  days  of  her  illness,  and 
no  appeal  is  necessary  for  funds  for  its  maintenance,  so 
ready  are  our  women  to  do  their  part  to  meet  its  needs. 

Hospital,  Winston-Salem.  A  resolution  was  passed  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  in  Char- 
lotte in  March  1922,  recommending  that  the  Union 
cooperate  in  the  plans  to  establish  a  hospital  at  Winston- 
Salem,  and  that  they  endeavor  as  far  as  possible  to  provide 
the  furnishing  for  the  building.  This  work  has  met  with 
a  ready  response,  and  it  is  confidently  expected  that  our 
Hospital  will  continue  to  secure  the  support  and  interest 
of  our  women.  Mrs.  J.  J.  Roddick  and  Mrs.  L.  T. 
Vaughan  represent  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  as 
trustees  of  the  Hospital  at  Winston-Salem. 

Kathleen  Mallory  Hospital,  Laichow-Fu,  China.  This 
hospital  has  been  assigned  to  the  Woman's  Missionary 
Union  of  North  Carolina  in  order  that  we  may  supply 
needed  equipment  from  year  to  year  in  the  way  of  hospital 
supplies.  Miss  Alda  Grayson,  of  Rutherfordton,  one  of 
our  North  Carolina  Training  School  girls,  is  superintend- 
ent.   A  study  of  medical  missions  has  in  several  instances 


North  Carolina  Baptists  55 

resulted  in  a  box  to  this  Hospital.  Mrs.  Z.  M.  Caveness  is 
chairman  of  our  Hospital  Committee  for  Laichow-Fu, 
China. 

IV.     Its  Financial  Plans 

The  Union  has  never  attempted  to  urge  any  special 
financial  plan  upon  the  societies.  For  years  most  of  the 
gifts  were  made  in  the  societies  and  paid  by  the  society 
treasurer  direct  to  the  church  treasurer.  Latterly  many 
pay  fheir  mission  money  through  the  church  envelopes 
and  the  church  treasurer  credits  the  society  with  the 
amounts  given  by  the  women.  The  Woman's  Missionary 
Union  is  an  agency  for  collecting  money  for  missionary 
purposes,  and  while  it  urges  no  special  plans,  it  seeks  to 
secure  from  every  woman  and  child  in  our  churches  regu- 
lar and  systematic  gifts  to  missions.  To  this  end  not 
only  tithing,  but  stewardship,  is  uigcd  upon  the  mem- 
bers of  our  societies;  tithing  of  all  money  that  comes  into 
our  hands  and  a  stewardship  of  time,  gifts  and  of  life. 
For  thirty-three  years  all  gifts  from  the  societies  were  for 
Foreign,  Home  and  State  Missions.  With  the  beginning 
of  the  Campaign,  the  objects  of  our  benevolences  were  in- 
creased to  include  all  the  objects  of  the  Campaign.  Many 
societies  had  contributed  liberally  to  Education,  Min- 
isterial Relief  and  the  Orphanage,  but  we  had  not  in- 
cluded any  of  these  gifts  in  our  reports.  In  addition  to 
Campaign  objects,  a  small  sum  is  contributed  each  year 
by  the  societies  for  expenses  of  the  Executive  Committee. 
Contributions  to  this  fund  and  to  the  Baptist  Woman's 
Missionary  Union  Training  School,  the  Margaret  Edu- 
cational Fund,  Bible  Fund  of  the  Sunday  School  Board 
are  sent  direct  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Union  and  all  other  funds  should  be  paid  to  the 
church    treasurer.     Quarterly  report  blanks  are  sent  to 


56  Kingdom  Building  by 

each  society  treasurer.  These  blanks  are  signed  by  the 
church  treasurer  when  money  is  paid  to  him,  and  the 
report  blank  is  then  sent  to  the  State  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Union  treasurer,  who  makes  her  quarterly  report 
from  these  signed  reports. 

V.    Its  Achievements 

First,  we  believe  that  there  has  come  to  our  women 
through  the  activities  of  our  Woman's  Missionary  Union 
not  only  an  increased  interest  in  Kingdom  work,  but  a 
deepening  of  their  spiritual  lives.  From  its  very  begin- 
ning emphasis  has  been  laid  on  prayer,  prayer  in  the  indi- 
vidual life,  and  united  prayer.  Three  special  seasons  of 
prayer  are  observed  each  year:  a  Week  of  Prayer  for 
World  Wide  Missions  in  January,  a  Week  of  Prayer  for 
Home  Missions,  and  a  Day  of  Prayer  for  State  Missions  in 
September.  Every  morning  at  nine  o'clock  the  women 
of  the  Union  unite  their  prayers  for  the  Divine  leadership 
and  blessing  on  their  work  and  for  the  coming  of  His 
Kingdom  in  the  hearts  of  men  everywhere.  A  special 
Calendar  of  Prayer  is  prepared  each  year  for  use  by  the 
Woman's  Missionary  Union  and  each  one  of  our  mission- 
aries ,  and  the  various  agencies  of  our  work  have  a  special 
day  set  apart  for  them.  The  fact  that  power  in  our  ser- 
vice comes  through  prayer  is  continually  kept  before  us. 
The  motto  of  the  North  Carolina  Union  is,  "For  Ye  Serve 
the  Lord  Christ."  Our  hymn  was  written  by  Miss  Heck 
for  the  Union,  "Come  Women,  Wide  Proclaim."  In 
addition  to  our  motto,  we  use  ejach  year  the  motto  and 
hymn  selected  by  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union  of 
Southern  Baptist  Convention.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1923  there  were  2,257  societies  of  all  grades,  and 
these  societies  have  a  membership  of  about  forty  thousand 


North  Carolina  Baptists  57 

women  and  children.  The  Union  is  represented  on  the 
State  Mission  Board  by  Mrs.  J.  Y.  Killian*,  Newton; 
Miss  Annie  Logan,  Asheville;  and  Mrs.  L.  T.  Vaughan, 
Nashville.  From  1886  to  1918,  the  beginning  of  the  75 
Million  Campaign,  the  gifts  from  the  societies  amounted 
to  $698,313.41.  In  the  four  years  of  the  Campaign,  our 
gifts  have  totaled  SI, 092,781.11,  making  our  total  con- 
tributions to  date  81,791,094.52.  From  81,000  to  8300,- 
000  a  year  in  thirty-five  years  is  an  achievement  that 
brings  joy  and  encouragement,  and  is  a  testimony  to  the 
love,  devotion  and  faithful  service  of  the  women  and 
children  of  the  Union. 

"Thine  O  Lord  is  the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and  the 
glory,  and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty,  for  all  that  is  in 
the  heaven  and  the  earth  is  Thine.  Now,  therefore,  our 
God,  we  thank  Thee  and  praise  Thy  glorious  name." — 
IChron.  11:13. 

VI.     Its  Officers,  1886-1923 

President.  Miss  Fannie  E.  S.  Heck,  1886-1915;  Mrs. 
Wesley  N.  Jones,  1916 . 

Corresponding  Secretary.  Miss  Sallie  Bailey  (now  Mrs. 
Wesley  N.  Jones),  1886-1888;  Mrs.  James  A.  Briggs, 
1888-1889;  Mrs.  Wesley  N.  Jones,  1890-1907;  Mrs.  H. 
C.  Moore,  1908-1910;  Miss  Elizabeth  N.  Briggs,  1910- 
1911;  Miss  Blanche  J.  Barrusf,  1911-1916;  Miss  Bertha 
Carroll,  1917-1920;  Mrs.  W.  H.  Reddish,  1921-1922; 
Miss  Mary  Warren,  1922 . 

Treasurer.  Mrs.  T.  H.  Briggs,  1886-1891;  Mrs.  J.  H. 
Briggs,  1891-1899;  Mrs.  W.  N.  Jones,  1899-1918;  Miss 
Bertha  Carroll,  1918-1920;  Elsie  K.  Hunter,  1920 . 


'Deceased.     Successor  not  vet   appointed. 
tDied   November  23,  1922.  " 


58  Kingdom  Building  by 

Y.  W.  A.  Superintendent.  Miss  Mary  K.  Applewhite 
(Mrs.  J.  Y.  Killian),  1904-1910;  Miss  Ellen  Graham, 
(Mrs.  John  Calvert),  1910-1911;  Mrs.  J.  W.  Bunn,  1912; 
Mrs.  C.  E.  Mason,  1913-1916;  Mrs.  R.  N.  Simms, 
1916 . 

Junior  Superintendent.  Miss  Elizabeth  N.  Briggs, 
1897 . 

Recording  Secretary.  1886,  Miss  Lida  McDaniel;  1887- 
1891,  Mrs.  T.  H.  Briggs;  1892,  Miss  E.  Simmons;  1894, 
Mrs.  H.  B.  Duffy;  1895,  Mrs.  L.  R.  Pruett;  1896,  Mrs. 
Harvey  Crist;  1897,  Mrs.  T.  H.  Hancock;  1898,  Miss 
E.  Wilder;  1899-1902,  Mrs.  D.  Rich;  1903,  Miss  Mary 
Taylor;  1904,  Mrs.  G.  T.  Lumpkin;  1905-1906,  Mrs. 
H.  C.  Moore;  1907,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Weathers;  1908,  Mrs. 
J.  H.  King;  1909-1911,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Boomhour;  1912-1917, 
Mrs.  J.  S.  Farmer;  1917,  Mrs.  Henry  Bunch  (pro  tern.); 
1918-1919,  Mrs.  J.  S.  Farmer;  1920,  Mrs.  C.  C.  Hoggard 
(pro  tern.);  1921 ,  Mrs.  J.  D.  Boushall. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  When  was  the  present  Woman's  Missionary  Union  or- 

ganized, and  what  was  the  purpose  of  the  organiza- 
tion? 

2.  When  and  where  was  the  Woman's  Missionary  Union 
auxiliary  to  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention  organ- 
ized, and  in  what  year  did  the  North  Carolina 
Woman's  Missionary  Union  become  a  part  of  this 
Union? 

3.  How  many  divisions  in  the  State,  and  how  many  Asso- 
ciations have  organized  Woman's  Missionary  Union 
work?  What  officers  constitute  the  Associational 
Executive  Committee? 

4.  Name  the  five  organizations  of  the  Woman's  Mission- 
ary Union. 

5.  Mention  the  various  phases  of  Woman's  Missionary 
Union  activity  today. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  59 


CHAPTER  V 

SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 

The  work  of  Sunday  schools  has  always  been  closely 
allied  with  that  of  State  Missions.  In  this  discussion  we 
look  at  it  from  three  angles — the  past,  the  present  and  the 
future. 

I.    A  Look  Backwards 

Our  Baptist  history  is  so  incomplete  that  we  can  give 
but  a  few  facts  in  this  brief  study.  As  we  came  from  the 
shadows  of  the  Civil  War  in  1865  we  found  that  N.  B. 
Cobb  had  been  superintendent  of  army  colportage.  He 
seems  also  to  have  been  Sunday  School  Secretary,  and  in 
such  capacity  made  a  report  to  the  State  Convention  in 
1865. 

Within  the  next  few  years  there  was  established  a  Sun- 
day School  Board.  In  1868  we  find  the  Convention  pay- 
ing off  a  debt  on  this  Board.  It  seems  that  practically 
everything  done  by  this  Board  was  through  colportage, 
and  yet  it  was  called  the  Sunday  School  Board.  Follow- 
ing Dr.  Cobb,  Geo.  W.  Greene  was  at  the  head  of  this 
work,  but  we  fail  to  find  the  exact  years. 

In  1877  John  E.  Ray  served  as  Secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  and  Sunday  Schools.  This  relationship  con- 
tinued for  nearly  ten  years.  These  were  years  of  growth 
and  vision.  In  June  1891,  M.  L.  Kesler  was  made  Sunday 
School  Secretary,  but  served  only  six  months,  and  re- 
turned to  the  pastorate  al  the  end  of  the  year. 

For  several  years  there  was  decided  division  in  the  Con- 
vention as  to  the  wisdom  of  having  a  separate  field  work 


60  Kingdom  Building  by 

for  Sunday  schools,  but  at  the  Convention  in  1895  action 
was  taken  leading  to  putting  a  man  in  the  field  with  these 
duties:  (1)  "To  gather  statistics  concerning  Sunday- 
school  work.  (2)  To  establish  new  Sunday  schools 
wherever  practicable,  and  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  ex- 
isting ones.  (3)  To  hold  Sunday  school  institutes  and 
introduce  the  best  literature.  (4)  To  report  to  the 
Board  of  Missions  and  Sunday  schools,  and  through  them 
to  the  Convention.' ' 

Dr.  B.  W.  Spilman  was  elected  the  first  Secretary  under 
this  arrangement,  and  on  April  1,  1896,  began  his  work. 
He  was  a  pioneer  for  this  State,  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  and,  we  might  say,  for  other  denominations. 
For  five  years  he  served  our  people  in  a  great  way,  but 
Under  the  most  trying  circumstances  on  account  of  the 
lack  of  support  and  sympathy.  His  faithfulness  and  per- 
sistence have  built  for  him  an  enduring  monument. 

T.  N.  Johnson  served  from  1901  to  1903.  He  tried  new 
policies.  He  was  really  ahead  of  his  times  and,  failing  to 
secure  adequate  financial  support,  he  resigned  after  two 
years. 

H.  C.  Moore  was  elected  in  1904  and  was  Secretary  until 
he  became  editor  of  the  Biblical  Recorder  in  January,  1908. 
His  service  was  of  such  high  order  that  he  was  elected  to  a 
place  in  the  field  force  of  the  Sunday  School  Board  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Convention,  and  really  served  them  for 
four  months,  but  the  Board  was  generous  enough  to  pay 
him  and  let  him  finish  his  year's  work  in  North  Carolina. 
Dr.  Moore  was  succeeded  by  E.  L.  Middleton,  who  will  be 
mentioned  later. 

Marks  of  Growth.  Sunday  school  statistics  have  been 
poorly  gathered  and  kept.     Like  many  churches,  we  make 


North  Carolina  Baptists  61 

history  but  fail  to  record  it.     The  first  report  we  find  is 
1897.    We  give  a  few  glimpses  of  how  we  have  grown. 

Dates  No.  Schools    Membership 


1897 

914 

66,046 

1901 

1,251 

91,346 

1906 

1,460 

115,709 

1911 

1,858 

174,384 

1916 

2,123 

221,148 

1921 

2,154 

247,699 

It  ought  to  be  said  that  during  these  last  five  years  of 
war,  influenza  and  reconstruction  there  was  an  actual  loss 
for  three  years,  and  the  tide  only  turned  in  1921. 

Finances.  Like  many  other  kinds  of  religious  work,  our 
Sunday  school  work  has  been  one  prolonged  struggle  to 
secure  enough  money  to  do  what  ought  to  be  done.  Dur- 
ing the  early  years  the  offerings  for  Sunday  School  Mis- 
sions were  never  large  enough  to  pay  the  expenses. 
During  the  five  years  of  Spilman's  work  the  Sunday  School 
Committee  could  not  see  any  chance  to  finance  the  work 
longer  and  urged  that  it  be  stopped.  He  begged  them  to 
let  him  go  on  and  pay  him  only  $10  a  month  and  traveling 
expenses.     This  was  done  for  a  short  time. 

During  the  years  1896  to  1908  State  Missions  paid  any 
deficit.  From  1908  to  the  75  Million  Campaign  there 
was  no  deficit.  Now  the  work  is  financed  jointly  by  State 
Missions  and  the  Sunday  School  Board,  Nashville,  Term. 

II.     Evidences  of  Efficiency 

The  faithful,  quiet,  and  persistent  efforts  of  the  Secre- 
taries and,  in  nearly  all  cases,  the  cordial  cooperation  of 
the  pastors,  superintendents  and  teachers  have  brought 
hundreds  of  our  Sunday  schools  to  a  high  degree  of  effi- 
ciency. The  outlook  was  never  so  bright  for  many  other 
schools  to  reach  this  same  desirable  goal. 


62  Kingdom  Building  by 

A  Southwide  Movement.  The  small  beginnings  in  North 
Carolina  set  the  pace  for  all  the  States  in  the  Southern 
Baptist  Convention.  For  the  five  years  Dr.  Spilman  was 
Secretary  no  other  State  had  such  work  except  what  some 
States  were  doing  along  with  colportage,  as  we  did  in  the 
sixties  and  seventies. 

The  Sunday  School  Board  at  Nashville  called  Dr.  Spil- 
man from  us  and  began  its  field  force,  now  numbering 
twelve.  Every  State  now  has  a  Secretary,  and  most  of 
them  one  or  more  field  workers  and  elementary  secre- 
taries. There  are  now  about  sixty  people  giving  all  their 
time  to  general  Sunday  school  work.  Last  year  the  Sun- 
day School  Board  spent  $110,189.29  as  its  part  of  the 
maintenance  of  the  work.  This  includes  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  work  also.  The  several  State  boards 
spent  over  twice  as  much  more.  In  1922  Southern  Bap- 
tists spent  at  least  $350,000  for  Sunday  school  work. 

How  North  Carolina  Stands.  We  are  far  from  attain- 
ing to  the  efficiency  we  desire,  but  facts  encourage  us  to 
press  on  to  better  and  larger  things: — 

1.  In  the  South  there  are  72.8  Sunday  schools  for 
every  100  churches;  in  North  Carolina  there  are  96.7  for 
each  100.  In  the  South  there  are  66.7  people  in  Sunday 
school  for  every  100  church  members;  in  North  Carolina 
there  are  81.7  for  each  100. 

2.  In  Standard  Sunday  schools  Texas  had  94;  North 
Carolina  26;  Kentucky,  22;  Georgia,  21,  and  all  others 
less.  We  also  have  two  AA-1  Sunday  schools,  with  only 
five  others  in  the  entire  South. 

3.  In  Teacher-training  we  are  fourth  in  the  number  of 
diplomas,  Texas,  Georgia  and  Kentucky  leading  us;  but 
last  year  only  two  States  excelled  us  in  total  Normal 
awards,  these  being  Texas  and  Mississippi. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  63 

4.  Our  churches  were  never  so  interested  in  up-to-date 
buildings  and  adequate  equipment  as  now.  Literally 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are  being  spent  annually 
remodeling  old  buildings  and  erecting  new  ones  to  take 
care  of  the  Sunday  schools.  This  phase  of  the  work  was 
never  so  hopeful. 

5.  Two  striking  examples  of  efficiency  will  help  all  who 
try  to  learn  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  One  case  is  in 
the  country  and  the  other  in  a  small  city : 

Double  Springs  was  a  typical  country  church  five  years 
ago.  It  had  a  one-room  church  house  in  poor  condition, 
with  just  such  a  Sunday  school  as  you  would  find  in  a 
thousand  and  more  other  North  Carolina  country 
churches.  They  caught  a  vision  and  made  it  real.  No 
details  are  possible  in  so  brief  a  compass,  but  here  are 
some  things  they  have  done: 

They  have  227  resident  church  members  with  225  in 
Sunday  school,  besides  40  in  Home  Department  and  39 
on  Cradle  Roll.  Only  420  people  live  near  enough  to  go. 
They  have  reached  72.4  per  cent  of  their  constituency. 
They  are  using  over  100  officers  and  teachers  in  the 
classes,  departments  and  general  officers.  They  have  a 
house  that  cost  over  $20,000.  They  have  trained  their 
workers.  Seventy-five  hold  the  Normal  Diploma.  They 
have  in  their  membership  321  Teacher-training  Awards. 
The  school  is  AA-1  according  to  standards  of  the  Sunday 
School  Board  of  the  Southern  Baptist  Convention. 

Dunn  is  just  as  fine  an  illustration  for  another  type  of 
Sunday  school.  It  has  achieved  just  as  well  as  Double 
Springs,  and  is  a  AA-1  school.  Their  census  shows  775 
people  in  their  constituency,  with  390  resident  church 
members.  Here  is  their  enrollment:  Main  school  431, 
Home  Department  68,  Cradle  Roll  77 ;  total,  576.    This 


64  Kingdom  Building  by 

is  74.3  per  cent  of  their  possibilities,  and  outside  the 
adults,  88.7  per  cent.  They  have  a  complete  Sunday- 
school  organization,  using  160  officers  and  teachers.  They 
have  86  Diplomas  with  451  Normal  Awards.  Their 
building  and  equipment  cost  about  $80,000. 

III.    The  Woek  and  the  Workers 

For  more  than  twenty  years  one  man  undertook  the 
task  of  putting  on  a  worth-while  Sunday  school  program. 
Besides  his  duties  as  Sunday  School  Secretary  he  had  to 
devote  two  months  each  year  to  gathering  all  the  statis- 
tics in  the  State  Convention  Annual.  In  spite  of  these 
facts,  together  with  inadequate  office  help,  the  work  grew 
apace  as  already  shown. 

North  Carolina  set  the  pace  for  the  South,  but  the 
vision  grew  in  other  States  while  our  horizon  remained  the 
same  until  1919.  The  brethren  began  to  see  that  inevi- 
tably we  must  stand  still  or  go  backwards  without  a 
forward  step.  On  July  15,  1919,  J.  H.  Couch  began  as 
field  worker  and  served  until  March  1,  1920,  when  he  was 
stricken  with  what  proved  to  be  his  last  illness.  Like 
many  others,  he  could  not  stand  the  strain  of  field  work. 
Nearly  half  the  time  he  served  was  aiding  in  the  75  Mil- 
lion Campaign  when  all  forces  were  mobilized  for  this 
great  undertaking. 

In  1921  the  day  of  larger  things  came  when  two  addi- 
tional workers  were  elected.  In  1922  still  another  field 
worker  was  added.     The  workers  are  as  follows: 

1.  E.  L.  Middleton  is  General  Secretary.  Since  1908 
he  has  served  in  this  capacity.  He  has  seen  the  work 
grow  to  its  present  proportions  following  not  his  plans 
and  policies  alone,  but  working  along  lines  planned  for 
the  entire  South.    Annually  all  the  State  Secretaries  meet 


North  Carolina  Baptists  65 

in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  for  a  conference  on  policies.  Then 
all  the  South  tries  to  catch  step  in  these  forward-looking 
movements. 

2.  A.  L.  Stephens  came  to  us  from  Alabama,  where  he 
was  a  field  worker  for  eight  years.  He  has  shown  himself 
successful  in  every  way.  He  knows  the  Normal  Course, 
and  can  teach  it.  He  creates  confidence  in  the  people 
that  they  can  make  their  Sunday  schools  larger  and  better. 
For  the  most  part  his  work  is  in  Western  North  Carolina. 

3.  J.  N.  Barnette  is  field  worker  for  the  East.  He  it 
was  who,  as  Superintendent,  put  over  that  fine  achieve- 
ment at  Double  Springs.  He  is  well  fitted  for  his  tasks. 
He  is  rendering  a  great  service. 

4.  Airs.  Lydia  Yates  Milliard  is  Elementary  Secretary. 
By  training  and  experience  she  is  proving  a  great  asset  to 
our  Baptist  forces.  There  are  nearly  250,000  children 
who  belong  to  Baptist  Sunday  schools.  It  is  her  task  to 
present  plans  for  reaching  them  and  teaching  them  as 
they  ought  to  be  taught. 

5.  Special  Workers.  The  Sunday  School  Board,  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  pays  one-half  the  salaries  and  expenses  of 
special  workers  for  summer  campaigns  in  country  and 
village  churches.  In  1921  Ave  used  these  in  138  institutes 
with  this  summary  of  results: 

Institutes  conducted 138 

Total  enrollment  in  classes 5,762 

Visitors  not  enrolled 3,554 

Officers  and  teachers  enrolled 1,665 

Pastors  enrolled 251 

Examinations  taken 844 

Churches  represented 502 

5 


66  Kingdom  Building  by 

In  1922  the  campaign  was  enlarged  using  fifteen  sem- 
inary and  college  students  for  three  months.  A  brief 
summary  is  as  follows: 

Number  of  institutes 271 

Churches  represented 496 

Pastors  present 231 

Enrollment  in  classes 10,114 

Others  present 8,225 

Diplomas,  Seals  and  Certificates 2,030 

IV.     Our  Immediate  Task 

Past  achievements  are  not  sufficient.  There  appear 
larger  tasks  as  we  go  along.  Here  are  some  of  the  things 
we  must  learn: — 

How  to  take  a  religious  census. 
How  to  organize  the  Sunday  school. 
How  to  grade  the  Sunday  school. 

How  to  maintain  a  Teachers'  Meeting  or  Workers' 
Council. 

How  to  enlist  and  train  teachers. 

How  to  have  a  good  program  every  Sunday  morning. 

How  to  keep  the  pupils  for  the  preaching  service. 

How  to  keep  records  and  make  reports. 

How  to  win  the  lost  to  Christ. 

All  these  things  and  more  are  enumerated  in  our  Normal 
books.  Mr.  Arthur  Flake  names  these  in  "Building  a 
Standard  Sunday  School."  Our  task  is  barely  begun.  I 
call  all  men  and  women  who  love  the  Lord  to  their  Sunday 
school  tasks. 

The  Unenlisted  ought  to  receive  our  immediate  atten- 
tion. White  Baptists  are  about  thirty  per  cent  of  the 
church  members  of  North  Carolina.     If  we  reach  only 


North  Carolina  Baptists  67 

our  proportionate  part  of  the  population  750,000  people 
belong  to  our  constituency.  Our  last  report  shows 
265,496  in  Sunday  school.  We  easily  have  500,000  un- 
reached people.  Many  cannot  attend,  but  the  Cradle 
Roll  for  the  babies  and  the  Home  Department  for  the 
"shut-ins"  and  the  "stay-outs"  make  places  for  every 
one  who  cannot  be  brought  to  the  Sunday  schools. 

A  religious  census  well  taken  will  help  tremendously. 
This  must  be  carefully  tabulated  and  assignments  made 
to  the  officers  and  teachers  for  a  follow-up  canvass.  This 
done  with  other  things  to  be  named  would  give  us  100,000 
increase  in  a  year  or  two. 

The  Organization  must  be  made  adequate.  This  means 
the  schools  must  be  divided  into  the  eight  basal  groups: 
Cradle  Roll,  birth  to  3  years;  Beginners,  4-5;  Primaries, 
6-8;  Juniors,  9-12;  Intermediates,  13-16;  Seniors  or 
Young  People,  17-24;  Adults,  25  and  up;  Home  Depart- 
ment from  Seniors  and  Adults. 

It  is  not  enough  to  stop  here.  Many  of  these  groups 
must  be  subdivided  in  from  two  to  eight  or  more  classes. 
These  classes  and  departments  must  have  officers  and 
teachers  and,  of  course,  there  must  be  necessary  general 
officers. 

The  Building  and  Equipment  must  not  be  forgotten.  If 
we  could  bring  all  our  people  to  Sunday  school,  our 
churches  would  not  hold  them.  As  we  grow  we  must 
build,  and  most  schools  must  build  for  the  present  attend- 
ance. We  must  learn  how  to  build  effectively.  Trag- 
edies are  being  enacted  in  the  waste  of  money  by  archi- 
tects, contractors  and  building  committees  who  do  not 
know  the  needs  of  the  Sunday  school. 


68  Kingdom  Building  by 

The  Children  must  receive  better  attention.  They  can- 
not speak  for  themselves.  They  comprise  the  first  four 
groups  named.  As  already  said  there  are  about  250,000 
of  them  who  belong  to  us.  About  160,000  are  old  enough 
to  be  in  Sunday  school  now,  and  the  90,000  Baptist  babies 
will  be  old  enough  in  three  or  four  years. 

If  you  want  your  church  and  Sunday  school  to  grow  in 
size,  efficiency  and  power  find  out  all  the  children  need 
and  provide  it  for  them.  "And  a  little  child  shall  lead 
them."  You  must  secure  books  and  tracts  and  learn 
what  you  ought  to  do  and  how  to  do  it. 

The  Men  and  Women  must  be  reached  and  used,  too. 
This  means  the  Intermediates  also,  for  they  will  be  men 
and  women  just  as  quickly  as  those  babies  will  be  old 
enough  to  go  to  Sunday  school.  To  meet  these  needs  we 
must  press  class  organization.  This  is  the  most  effective 
method  ever  found  for  reaching  grown  people  for  the  Sun- 
day school,  and  it  will  do  it  if  wisely  used. 

Training  the  Workers  is  our  largest  task.  The  16,000 
officers  and  teachers  now  in  our  Baptist  Sunday  schools 
are  earnest,  consecrated,  faithful  people.  They  are  doing 
about  the  best  they  know,  but  they  do  not  know  enough, 
and  Normal  studies  will  make  them  know  more.  Then 
again,  with  our  way  of  doing  things,  we  change  at  least 
8,000  of  these  every  year  and  put  more  in  that  number  of 
inexperienced,  untrained  workers.  Still  further,  if  we 
enlarge  our  organizations  as  we  ought  to  do,  we  will  need 
at  once  3,000  to  5,000  more  officers  and  teachers  than  we 
now  have.  To  train  present  workers  and  the  new  ones 
we  need  is  a  staggering  task. 

We  cannot  do  it  all  at  once,  but  we  can  go  to  work 
vigorously  at  the  task.  Here  are  some  things  that  will 
help: 


North  Carolina  Baptists  69 

1.  A  Normal  Class  meeting  week  by  week  is  the  best 
way  for  most  churches.  Select  the  best  leader  to  conduct 
the  class.  Develop  a  fine  spirit  of  cooperation  and  hold 
the  class  together  until  the  book  is  finished. 

2.  A  Training  School  for  a  week  is  a  fine  way,  meeting 
every  night  for  about  two  hours  with  a  lunch  period  for 
rest  and  social  purposes.  This  will  enable  you  to  finish 
half  the  Manual  or  most  of  the  other  books  entirely  in  one 
week.  In  the  country  this  same  plan  can  be  used  in  day- 
time if  it  is  better. 

3.  The  Correspondence  Course  is  for  those  who  cannot 
attend  a  class  or  go  to  a  training  school.  There  are  now 
nearly  3,000  persons  enlisted  in  this  work  right  here  in 
North  Carolina.  We  are  ordering  diplomas  every  week. 
Write  for  full  information. 

4.  Our  Colleges  and  Schools  are  training  our  young 
people  for  efficient  service  when  their  school  days  are 
over.  In  the  last  two  years  here  in  North  Carolina  these 
young  people  have  earned  nearly  5,000  Normal  Awards. 
Let  them  help  you  put  into  effect  a  teacher  training  pro- 
gram in  your  church. 

RESTATEMENT  FOR  TEACHING  AND  REVIEW 

I.  A  Look  Backwards. 

1.  Secretaries  1865  to  1896. 

2.  Workers  1896  to  date. 

3.  Marks  of  growth. 

4.  Finances.     How? 

II.  Evidences  of  Efficiency. 

1.  Provoked  a  southwide  movement. 

2.  How  North  Carolina  stands. 

(1)  Membership.  (2)  Standard  schools.  (3)  Teacher 
Training.  (4)  Church  buildings.  (5)  Two  illus- 
trations— Double  Springs  and  Dunn. 


70  Kingdom  Building  by 

III.  The  Work  and  the  Workers. 

1.  The  period  of  one  secretary. 

2.  Increasing  the  forces.     Name  workers. 

3.  Program  for  rural  work. 

IV.  Our  Immediate  Task. 

1.  Reach  the  unenlisted. 

2.  Plan  adequate  organization.     How? 

3.  Provide  buildings  and  equipment. 

4.  Remember  the  children. 

5.  Use  the  men  and  women. 

6.  Train  the  workers.     How? 


North  Carolina  Baptists  71 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  BAPTIST  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  UNION 

I.     Its  Origin 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of  North  Carolina 
was  organized  about  the  year  1899  or  1900.  At  that  time 
the  movement  was  not  widespread,  nor  was  it  of  great 
strength  numerically.  For  ten  years  growth  was  slow 
and  in  the  summer  of  1909,  under  a  spreading  chestnut 
tree  standing  on  the  Southern  Baptist  Assembly  grounds 
at  Ridgecrest,  a  group  of  North  Carolina  young  people 
led  by  Dr.  B.  W.  Spilman,  reorganized  the  State  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  with  J.  Powell  Tucker  as  President. 
In  1910  a  number  of  Baptist  Young  People's  Unions  exist- 
ing in  some  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  North  Carolina 
held  a  State-wide  convention  at  Durham  and  formed  a 
State-wide  cooperative  Union  with  a  distinct  constitution 
and  plan  of  work. 

In  1912  there  was  a  general  revival  in  interest  in  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  work  in  the  State.  It  was  the 
belief  of  those  in  touch  with  the  State  organization  that 
the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  could  be  made  a  very 
effective  agency  for  training  young  people.  The  conven- 
tion of  that  year  expressed  itself  as  desiring  a  closer  rela- 
tion between  the  Baptist  State  Convention  and  the  Bap- 
tist Young  People's  Union,  adopting  the  following  resolu- 
tion: "That  this  convention  request  the  Baptist  State 
Convention  to  instruct  the  State  Board  of  Missions  to  ap- 
propriate S600  of  the  State  Mission  Fund  and  S300  of  the 
Sunday  School  Fund  to  be  used  in  paying  the  salary  of  a 
State  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Secretary;  and  that 
this  convention  raise  the  rest  of  the  amount  necessary  to 


72  Kingdom  Building  by 

secure  a  good  man  to  begin  his  work  early  in  1913.  That 
the  executive  committee  of  this  convention  name  some 
one,  and  that  the  State  Board  of  Missions  elect  him;  that 
the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Secretary  shall  sustain 
the  same  relation  to  the  State  Board  of  Missions  and  Sun- 
day Schools  that  the  Sunday  School  Secretary  sustains; 
that  he  shall  make  his  report  to  the  Board.' ' 

Prior  to  this  time,  after  its  origin,  this  department  of 
the  work  of  the  denomination  was  under  the  direction  and 
supervision  of  the  Sunday  School  Secretary,  E.  L.  Middle- 
ton,  and  was  propagated  by  him  through  the  Department 
of  Sunday  Schools  and  in  connection  with  his  work  as 
Sunday  School  Secretary. 

In  1916  the  Baptist  State  Board  of  Missions  employed 
a  full-time  Secretary  for  this  phase  of  work  and  assumed 
full  control  of  and  responsibility  for  it. 

II.     Its  Object 

The  object  of  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  as 
embodied  in  its  constitution,  shall  be  (1)  the  increased 
spirituality  of  the  young  Christians;  (2)  their  training 
in  essential  church  activities;  (3;  their  edification  in 
scripture  knowledge;  (4)  their  instruction  in  Baptist  doc- 
trine and  history;  (5)  their  enlistment  in  all  forms  of  mis- 
sionary endeavor  through  existing  denominational  organ- 
izations. An  analysis  of  the  object  reveals,  in  three 
words,  its  meaning,  viz:  consecration,  preparation,  ser- 
vice. 

Increased  Spirituality.  A  deepening  of  the  devotional 
and  spiritual  life  of  the  young  convert  may  be  brought 
about  in  numerous  ways.     It  may  be  done 

(1)  Through  constant  prayer  and  devotion  to  God. 

(2)  Through  daily  habit  of  reading  God's  word. 

(3)  By  talking  to  others  about  God  and  His  word. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  73 

No  Christian  is  safe  from  the  snares  and  pitfalls  that  lie 
along  his  pathway  until  he  has  acquired  a  proper  rein- 
forcement through  these  privileges  which  have  been  exer- 
cised until  each  has  become  a  fixed  habit  in  his  daily  life. 

Training  in  Essential  Church  Activities.  Every  Baptist 
church  needs  a  training  service,  a  drill  ground,  where  the 
young  convert  may  be  taught  to  march  and  keep  step 
with  the  trained  ranks  in  the  church. 

The  dominant  idea  in  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union 
is  training.  There  one  is  taught  to  exercise  his  power  of 
initiative.  It  is  there  he  finds  himself,  and  learns  that  he 
is  a  personality  and  a  necessary  adjunct  to  a  great  enter- 
prise. There  he  is  afforded  an  opportunity  to  exercise  his 
talents.  No  boy  ever  forgets  the  first  time  he  was  per- 
mitted to  drive  alone,  a  horse  and  buggy  or  an  automobile, 
along  a  crowded  thoroughfare.  In  the  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  one  learns,  through  constant,  intelligent 
practice,  to  do  church  work  by  doing  church  work. 

Edification  in  Scripture  Knowledge.  Embodied  in  the 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Pledge  are  the  following 
significant  statements:  "I  hereby  promise  to  strive  to  be 
true  to  Christ  in  all  things  and  at  all  times;  to  seek  the 
New  Testament  Standard  of  Christian  experience  and 
life.' '  If  the  young  convert  is  to  attain,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  New  Testament  Standard  of  Christian  experience  and 
life  he  must  know  what  that  standard  is,  and  to  know  it 
he  must  read  the  New  Testament  to  his  own  edification. 

Instruction  in  Baptist  Doctrine  and  History.  Many  of 
our  people  know  practically  nothing  concerning  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  and  views  held  by  Baptists.  The  doc- 
trinal topics  discussed  in  the  weekly  meetings  of  the  Bap- 
tist Young  People's  Union  educate  Baptist  young  people 
in  the  doctrines,  beliefs  and  history  of  the  denomination. 


74  Kingdom  Building  by 

Enlistment  in  All  Forms  of  Missionary  Endeavor  Through 
Existing  Denominational  Organizations.  The  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  is  a  form  of  voluntary  activity  in 
the  field  of  religious  endeavor.  The  organization  affords 
young  people  the  means  and  occasions  of  exercising  the 
power  of  initiative.  To  be  allowed  to  start  something 
and  to  be  left  alone  to  carry  the  enterprise  to  a  finished 
conclusion  is  of  vital  importance  in  the  training  of  young 
people.  If  voluntary  associations  are  universally  recog- 
nized as  necessary  means  of  stimulating  and  developing 
the  power  of  youth  in  other  fields,  what  reason  can  be 
given  for  denying  their  necessity  in  the  field  of  religious 
training?  It  will  be  clear  to  those  who  understand  the 
principle  underlying  young  people's  religious  organiza- 
tions that  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  brings  the 
advantages  of  voluntary  activity  within  reach  of  all  young 
Baptists.  The  question  naturally  arises  as  to  what  lines 
of  church  activity  can  and  should  young  converts  engage 
themselves  in  immediately  after  taking  upon  themselves 
the  obligation  of  church  membership.  Let  us  consider 
some  things  that  should  be  begun  in  the  lives  of  young 
Christians  on  the  day  after  their  baptism. 

Bible  Study.  As  the  Bible  is  the  one  basis  for  all  our 
Christian  endeavor,  the  young  church  member  should 
have  ample  encouragement  in  handling  the  Sword  of  the 
Spirit.  In  the  experience  of  young  people  some  form  of 
Bible  reading  must  take  the  place  of  the  broken  down 
family  altar.  In  many  instances  it  is  true  with  God's 
people,  it  would  seem,  that  "Thy  Word  is  no  longer  needed 
as  a  lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  path." 
Through  the  activities  of  the  Baptist  Young  People's 
Unions  thousands  of  young  Baptists  have  been  enlisted  in 
the  habit,  and  are  now  reading  God's  word  daily.     If  they 


North  Carolina  Baptists  75 

are  properly  instructed  and  guided  they  will  readily  begin 
a  habit  of  reading  the  word  and  sooner  or  later  the  indi- 
vidual catches  the  spirit  and  finds  great  joy  in  perusing 
the  Bible  daily. 

Indoctrination.  A  stream  is  most  powerful  where  the 
current  is  strongest;  the  narrow,  deep  mountain  stream 
is  more  forceful  than  the  wide,  shallow  lowland  stream. 
The  person  who  knows  what  he  believes  and  knows  why 
he  believes  it  is  the  greatest  possible  force  in  Christian 
work;  consequently  it  is  very  necessary  that  a  young 
convert  be  given  an  opportunity  to  ascertain  his  denom- 
inational doctrines  and  beliefs.  There  is  going  the  rounds 
a  gripping  appeal  to  the  plastic  minds  of  young  people  to 
be  "modern  and  broad"  in  the  Christian  life.  Daily, 
literature  setting  forth  some  kind  of  "ism"  finds  its  way 
into  their  hands.  An  unrestful  atmosphere  prevails,  and 
the  one  anchor  by  which  young  Christians  may  be  held 
firm  in  the  faith  is  through  proper  indoctrination. 

Stewardship.  In  its  broad  sense  stewardship  tends  to 
magnify  the  giving  to  the  Lord  of  one's  talents,  strength, 
skill,  time,  opportunity,  knowledge,  influence,  personality, 
self,  substance  and  all  that  goes  to  make  up  life.  While 
the  minds  of  young  converts  are  impressionable,  oppor- 
tunity should  be  afforded  for  practice  in  the  rudiments  of 
stewardship. 

One  phase  of  stewardship  that  immediately  concerns 
North  Carolina  Baptists  is  that  of  giving  back  into  the 
Lord's  treasury  that  part  of  their  means  that  rightly 
belongs  to  Him.  When  shall  we  ever  come  upon  a  time 
when  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  wage  special  campaigns 
for  money  to  finance  Kingdom  work?  Not  until  we  have 
trained  and  enlisted  a  generation  of  church  members  that 
recognize  and  practice  the  Bible  plan  of  giving.     Figures 


76  Kingdom  Building  by 

show  that  approximately  only  fifty  per  cent  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  churches  in  North  Carolina  contribute, 
with  any  degree  of  regularity,  of  their  means  to  the  work 
of  the  churches.  Statistics  are  tiresome,  but  a  little 
figuring  reveals  some  startling  facts  regarding  the  possi- 
bilities for  North  Carolina  in  financing  Kingdom  work. 
If  the  Baptists  of  the  State,  325,000  strong,  have  an 
annual  income  of  $100  each,  and  if  they  should  give  back 
into  the  Lord's  treasury  the  tithe  of  that  amount,  they 
could  contribute  each  year: 

500,000  dollars  to  Foreign  Missions. 
500,000  dollars  to  Home  Missions. 
500,000  dollars  to  Christian  Education. 
250,000  dollars  to  Church  Building. 
250,000  dollars  to  Ministerial  Relief. 
500,000  dollars  to  the  Orphanage. 
500,000  dollars  to  State  Missions. 
250,000  dollars  to  be  used  for  Secretaries'  salaries,  office 
rent,  printing,  postage,  and  other  incidentals. 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  aims  to  educate  and 
enlist  every  single  one  of  its  members  in  Scriptural  giving, 
according  to  the  plan,  and  through  the  regular  channels 
of  the  church. 

Social  Life.  Young  people  will  have  some  form  of  social 
life.  Their  divinely  appointed  natures  demand  it.  The 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  makes  an  effort  to  develop 
within  the  hearts  and  minds  of  young  Christians  whole- 
some ideas  of  play,  intelligent  recreation  and  amusement 
that  will  counteract  the  unwholesome  things  offered  by 
the  world.  The  young  convert  should  be  made  to  realize 
that  after  assuming  the  obligations  of  church  membership 
his  influence  is  more  keenly  felt  and  his  social  life  must  be 
different,  in  that  enjoyment  lies  elsewhere  than  in  worldly 
attractions. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  11 

Technological  Training.  Much  time  and  thought  is  de- 
voted to  developing  young  people  in  various  lines  of  art. 
It  is  essential  that  a  church  give  its  young  converts  oppor- 
tunities to  practice  the  art  of  leading  in  church  upbuild- 
ing, in  the  technique  of  developing  a  broad  life  of  useful- 
ness, and  of  becoming  a  strong  factor  in  Christian  work. 
A  little  technical  training  wall,  without  doubt,  expedite 
the  work  of  all  denominational  meetings,  such  as  church 
conferences,  associational  meetings,  women's  missionary 
society  meetings,  associational  and  State  conventions. 
Reasons  given  by  many  church  members  for  not  render- 
ing efficient  service  of  this  kind  are  summed  up  in  one 
very  trite  excuse,  viz:  "Because  I  never  have."  The 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  offers  a  place  congenial 
and  inviting  where  young  church  members  may  be  trained 
to  do  the  following  things : 

Show  Hospitality.  In  the  Baptist  Young  People's 
Union  the  talent  of  being  hospitable  is  developed,  and 
through  this  form  of  activity  the  atmosphere  permeating 
the  church  service  and  the  home  life  may  be  transformed 
into  one  of  sweet  comradeship  and  reverence. 

Sing.  Singing  is  essential  to  the  highest  form  of  public 
worship.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  upon  the 
necessity  of  using  musical  talent  for  uplifting  Christ's 
Kingdom.  A  church  member  with  musical  talent  should 
be  encouraged  and  expected  by  his  church  to  use  his 
musical  talent  in  adding  to  the  usefulness  of  church  serv- 
ices. The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  encourages 
the  training  and  development  of  young  Christians  in  this 
form  of  Christian  activity. 


78  Kingdom  Building  by 

Speak  Publicly.  Developing  public  speakers  and  train- 
ing them  to  give  expression  to  their  thoughts  while  stand- 
ing in  the  presence  of  other  young  Christians  is  one  of  the 
big  things  in  the  field  of  Baptist  Young  People's  Union 
endeavor. 

Practice  Secret  Prayer.  The  true  Christian  spirit  leads 
the  heart  directly  to  God  at  all  times.  The  Lord  com- 
mends to  His  people  the  matter  of  praying  much  in  secret. 
Every  good  church  member  should  spend  much  time  in 
secret  prayer. 

Practice  Public  Prayer.  A  good  church  member  ought 
to  be  willing  to  pray  in  public.  The  Baptist  form  of 
public  worship  necessitates  training  in  this  direction.  The 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  gives  such  training. 

Give.  A  good  church  member  ought  to  give  system- 
atically and  proportionately  of  his  means  to  support 
Kingdom  work.  The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union 
trains  in  giving  and  stresses  the  tithe  as  a  minimum. 

Teach.  One  of  the  crying  needs  of  the  churches  of 
today  is  for  trained  teachers  of  God's  word.  The  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  reveals  young  Christians  to  them- 
selves and  to  the  Church.  Here  they  are  enlisted  and 
trained  in  the  art  of  teaching,  being  transplanted  into  the 
Sunday  School  into  a  large  sphere  of  service. 

Lead.  The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  develops 
leadership.  Its  officers  and  committees  are  particularly 
exercised  in  leadership.  If  they  do  their  work  well  they 
are  actual  leaders  in  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union, 
and  ultimately  become  leaders  in  all  phases  of  church 
activity. 

Administer  Church  Affairs.  In  the  Baptist  Deacons' 
Meetings,  Sunday  school,  Prayer  meeting,  Woman's  Mis- 
sionary Society,  Church  Conferences,  Associations  and 


North  Carolina  Baptists  79 

Conventions  the  work  of  the  denomination  will  be  com- 
pletely and  effectively  changed,  when  under  the  guiding 
hand  of  trained  parliamentarians  and  thinkers  the  affairs 
of  the  churches  are  administered.  The  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  gives  training  along  this  line. 

Preach  the  Word.  Many  hear  the  call  of  God  to  the 
Ministry  and  the  Mission  Fields.  The  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  is  a  training  camp  for  recruits  to  the  Lord's 
forces  in  the  battle  for  righteousness. 

Evangelize.  The  ultimate  aim  of  the  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  is  to  lead  lost  people  into  the  light  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  saving  power  of  Christ  Jesus.  It  trains 
in  definite,  personal  evangelism. 

In  brief,  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  trains  in 
Christian  living,  knowledge  and  service,  and  meets  the 
threefold  need  of  man's  nature,  viz:  Spiritual,  Intel- 
lectual and  Social. 

III.     Its  Growth 

In  Kinds  of  Work.  Prior  to  the  organization  of  the 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  in  North  Carolina  the  only 
young  people's  meetings  were  prayer  meetings  in  a  few 
churches.  Upon  the  introduction  of  committee  work  and 
the  group  plan  of  organization  these  meetings  took  the 
form  of  the  present  Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  thereby 
shifting  the  responsibility  from  the  heterogeneous  crowd 
to  the  individual. 

The  place  which  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union 
work  now  occupies  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  young 
people  in  North  Carolina  can  hardly  be  exaggerated.  They 
have  found  in  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  an  oppor- 
tunity for  activity  and  development  which  satisfies  the 
longings  of  their  mental,  spiritual  and  social  natures,  and 


80  Kingdom  Building  by 

which  supplements  the  work  of  the  Sunday  school  class, 
and  ushers  them  into  the  larger  work  of  their  own  church 
and  denomination.  Such  is  the  status  of  the  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  today,  and  such  will  it  remain  as 
long  as  the  Baptist  denomination  continues  to  be  a  factor 
in  bringing  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

In  Number  of  Organizations.  In  1910  at  the  time  of  the 
meeting  of  the  first  State  Convention,  there  were  ten 
Unions  reported.  Twelve  years  later,  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1922,  there  were  1,040  in  the  churches,  schools  and 
colleges,  as  follows:  215  Junior,  103  Intermediates,  722 
Seniors.  Of  these  41  were  in  the  schools  and  colleges  of 
the  denomination. 

In  Membership.  Approximately  350  members  of  the 
ten  organizations  reported  in  1910.  In  1922  there  were 
28,212  Seniors,  4,101  Intermediates,  and  8,370  Juniors; 
making  a  total  membership  of  40,683.  North  Carolina 
stands  third  among  the  States  of  the  Southern  Baptist 
Convention,  both  in  number  of  Unions  and  in  member- 
ship, Texas  and  Georgia  being  the  two  States  ahead  of  her. 

In  General  Organizations.  1.  City  Unions.  In  thirteen 
of  our  larger  towns  and  cities  there  are  well  organized 
City  Unions.  These  organizations  reinforce  the  work  of 
the  Unions  in  the  local  churches. 

2.  Associational  Baptist  Young  People's  Unions.  Thirty 
Associations  have  been  organized,  and  the  number  is 
growing  yearly.  This  organization  is  needed  for  several 
reasons : 

(a)  For  the  educational  and  inspirational  value  of  its 
conventions  and  training  schools. 

(b)  To  train  leaders  to  go  anywhere  in  the  association 
and  organize  Baptist  Young  People's  Unions,  and  help 
those  already  organized  to  greater  efficiency. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  81 

(c)  To  create  a  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  spirit  in 
the  Association. 

(d)  To  keep  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  work  in 
a  healthy  condition  in  those  churches  that  already  have  it. 

(e)  To  supplement  and  augment  the  work  of  the  State 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Secretary  and  his  helpers. 

(f)  As  a  medium  through  which  to  advertise  and  boost 
our  general  denominational  meetings  in  the  State. 

3.  State  Convention.  Once  a  year  a  State-wide  conven- 
tion is  held  to  which  churches  with  or  without  Baptist 
Young  People's  Unions  may  send  representatives.  The 
conventions  of  1921-'22  were  each  attended  by  more  than 
1,200  young  people. 

4.  Assemblies.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Baptist 
State  Board  of  Missions,  two  Baptist  Assemblies  are  held 
each  year — one  in  the  east  and  one  in  the  west.  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  work  has  come  to  be  a  regular 
phase  of  the  work  of  these  Assemblies. 

Present  Status.  The  year  1922  was  the  greatest  year 
experienced  by  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  up  to 
that  time.  More  than  ten  thousand  members  of  the 
churches  in  the  State  had  completed  a  study  of  the  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  Manual  of  methods  and  received 
their  diplomas,  and  at  least  five  thousand  had  completed 
the  study  of  one  or  more  of  the  advanced  books  in  the  Bap- 
tist Young  People's  Union  Study  Course  of  ten  books.  The 
prescribed  courses  of  study  are: 

For  Juniors,  9  to  12  years  of  age. 
"Junior  B.  Y.  P.  U.  Manual." 
For  Intermediates,  13  to  16  years  of  age. 

"Intermediate  B.  Y.  P.  U.  Manual." 
"Studying  for  Service." 
6 


82  Kingdom  Building  by 

"Training  in  Bible  Study.' ' 
"Training  in  Christian  Service." 
"Training  in  Stewardship.' ' 

For  Seniors,  17  years  of  age  and  up. 
"Senior  B.  Y.  P.  U.  Manual." 
"Training  in  Stewardship.' ' 
"Training  in  Church  Membership." 
"Training  in  the  Baptist  Spirit." 
"Training  in  Bible  Study." 
"Training  in  Christian  Service." 
"Pilgrim's  Progress  for  the  B.  Y.  P.  U." 
"Divisions  I  and  II,  Normal  Manual." 

IV.  Its  Contribution 
Pastors,  church  and  denominational  leaders,  who  are 
aggressive  and  know  the  work  and  worth  of  the  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  are,  without  exception,  friends  of 
the  organization.  During  the  few  years  of  its  existence  it 
has  contributed  in  various  ways  to  the  onward  march  of 
the  denomination  in  its  larger  program.  Every  phase  of 
the  work  has  shared  in  the  contribution  made. 

To  Local  Church  Organization.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  younger  members  of  boards  of  deacons,  church  offi- 
cers, Sunday  School  officers  and  teachers  are  recruited 
through  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union.  The  denom- 
ination looks  to  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  for  re- 
cruits for  the  mission  fields.  The  seminaries  and  training 
schools  look  to  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  for 
students  who  are  later  to  go  out  as  Christian  teachers. 

To  the  Ministry.  Leaders  in  all  evangelical  denomina- 
tions testify  to  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  younger 
men  in  the  ministry  entered  through  the  young  people's 
organizations.  In  these  latter  days  one  is  constantly  com- 
ing in  contact  with  ministers  whose  testimony  is,  "Had 
it  not  been  for  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  in  all 
probability  I  would  not  be  preaching  the  gospel  today." 


North  Carolina  Baptists  83 

A  test  of  the  proposition  in  any  convention  of  young  min- 
isters today  reveals  the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  them  found 
their  calling  in  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union. 

Financial.  The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  is  not 
and  has  never  been  a  money  raising  agency  except  as  it 
teaches  and  trains  in  systematic  and  proportionate  giving 
through  the  regular  channels  of  the  churches.  The  con- 
tribution made  in  this  way  can  hardly  be  estimated. 
Through  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  more  than  a 
thousand  young  church  members  have  pledged  themselves 
to  tithe  their  incomes.  In  the  work  of  financing  the  local 
churches  and  world-wide  missions  and  benevolences  those 
churches  that  have  strong  young  people's  unions  find  it 
much  easier  to  raise  the  funds  than  the  churches  with  no 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union. 

V.    The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Workers 

Perry  Morgan  is  General  Secretary  of  Baptist  Young- 
People's  Union  work  in  the  State.  He  has  served  in  this 
capacity  since  April  1,  1920.  He  spends  his  time  in  the 
office,  Training  Schools,  Institutes,  Associational  Confer- 
ences, Conventions  and  Assemblies.  He  is  available  for 
both  rural  and  city  churches. 

Miss  Elma  Leigh  Farabow  has  been  serving  as  Secre- 
tary of  Junior  and  Intermediate  work  since  October  1, 
1921.  She  is  available  for  all  kinds  of  field  work  in  both 
rural  and  city  churches.  Her  time  is  spent  in  Training 
Schools,  Institutes,  Conferences,  Conventions,  Assemblies 
and  in  the  office. 

Miss  Rosa  Wiggs  is  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union 
office  Secretary. 


84  Kingdom  Building  by 

VI.   The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Office 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  headquarters  office 
is  214  Biblical  Recorder  Building,  Raleigh,  N.  C.  All 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  awards  for  the  State  are 
issued  from  there.  There  is  at  all  times  a  liberal  supply 
of  tracts  and  free  literature  on  hand  that  may  be  secured 
for  the  asking. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1 .  Give  a  brief  outline  of  the  origin  of  the  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  in  North  Carolina. 

2.  State  the  object  of  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union. 

3.  Name  some  things  that  should  be  begun  in  the  lives 
of  young  Christians  early  after  their  conversion. 

4.  Name  at  least  eight  things  young  church  members 
should  be  trained  to  do. 

5.  What  definite  contribution  has  the  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  made  to  local  church  organizations? 

6.  Where  is  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  headquarters? 

7.  Name  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  Secretaries 
for  North  Carolina. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  85 

CHAPTER  Vn 

ENLISTMENT  OF   THE    COUNTRY   CHURCHES 

There  was  a  time  when  all  of  the  Baptist  churches  in 
North  Carolina  were  rural  or  country  churches.  They 
served  well  their  day  and  generation.  They  contained 
practically  all  of  the  strong  denominational  leaders.  As 
the  population  grew  villages  sprang  up  and  the  need  for 
manufacturing  brought  to  them  capital  and  more  people, 
among  them  the  ambitious  and  aggressive.  This  move- 
ment from  the  country  to  the  centers  of  population  has 
gone  on  through  the  years  with  increasing  momentum. 
In  1920  about  38  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  State 
lived  in  towns  and  cities.  Practically  all  of  the  profes- 
sional men,  doctors,  lawyers,  and  teachers  have  gone  to 
the  cities.  The  country  store,  once  so  popular,  is  not  to 
be  found  except  in  the  remoter  country  sections.  The 
number  of  farm  owners  living  on  and  cultivating  their 
farms  is  steadily  decreasing.  They  are  becoming  the  ex- 
ceptions and  tenantry  the  rule. 

This  change  of  population  and  the  losing  of  so  large  a 
part  of  the  progressive  people  from  the  country  communi- 
ties has  resulted  in  seriously  crippling  the  efficiency  of 
country  churches.  The  bulk  of  the  educated  preachers 
have  followed  the  trend  and  gone  to  town.  They  are  not 
better  men  than  those  who  have  elected  to  remain  in  the 
country,  but  their  better  training,  other  things  being 
equal,  has  made  them  more  efficient,  aggressive  and  ambi- 
tious. Like  the  lawyers,  doctors,  teachers  and  merchants, 
they  have  sought  what  they  believe  to  be  the  better  ad- 
vantages offered  by  the  town  and  city.  Each  generation 
of  young  men  and  women  enters  public  life  and  the  pro- 
fessions earlier  than  the  preceding  one.     The  town  and 


86  Kingdom  Building  by 

city  offer  the  shortest,  easiest  road  to  fame  and  fortune. 
The  social  instincts  of  young  people  are  urgent  and  the 
social  opportunities  of  the  country  meager,  but  for  the 
social  urgings  of  youth  the  city  furnishes  an  outlet  that 
helps  to  draw  them  thither.  Thus  the  country  church 
is  robbed  almost  entirely  of  its  best  material  for  leader- 
ship in  religious  work.  But  among  those  left  there  is 
material  that  may  be  developed. 

In  many  sections  of  the  country  the  churches  are  grow- 
ing weaker  year  by  year ;  in  other  sections  they  are  barely 
holding  the  ground  taken,  while  comparatively  few  are 
gaining  ground.  All  this  has  made  it  necessary  for 
denominational  help  to  be  given  local  churches  to  enable 
them  to  develop  leaders,  plans,  programs,  social  life,  com- 
pact fields,  and  finances. 

I.     Enlistment  Defined 

We  mean  by  Enlistment  not  merely  getting  the  prom- 
ises of  the  members  to  cooperate  in  what  the  church  under- 
takes. It  is  comprehended  in  the  last  half  of  our  Lord's 
command  to  His  church  just  before  be  left  the  earth, 
namely — "  teaching  them  to  observe  (do)  all  things  what- 
soever I  have  commanded  you."  It  is  not  explaining  to 
them  theories  about  our  Lord's  work,  but  teaching  them 
to  do  by  doing. 

Take  an  average  country  church.  It  is  one  of  a  field 
(so  called)  of  four  or  five  churches  widely  separated.  The 
visiting  preacher  (he  cannot  rightly  be  called  the  pastor) 
comes  once  a  month  and  preaches  to  the  church  and  the 
next  day  returns  home  and  is  not  seen  again  in  the  com- 
munity for  a  month  perhaps.  His  salary  is  so  small  that 
he  has  to  supplement  it  by  farming,  poultry  raising  or 
something  else  that  brings  in  a  few  additional  dollars.  He 


North  Carolina  Baptists  87 

says  he  cannot  give  his  entire  time  to  the  churches  because 
his  salary  is  insufficient  for  the  support  of  himself  and 
family.  The  churches  say  they  cannot  pay  more  because 
they  get  such  a  little  bit  of  the  preacher's  time. 
Thus  we  can  readily  see  the  two  places  for  enlistment  in  the 
pay  and  service  question.  The  church  in  question  ought 
to  pay  at  least  its  share  of  what  is  required  to  furnish  the 
pastor  an  adequate  living.  The  average  country  church 
would  bear  no  financial  strain  in  doing  it  if  all  the  mem- 
bers were  enlisted;  and  where  is  the  God-called  man  who 
would  not  be  glad  to  give  his  full  time  and  talent  in  the 
service  of  a  field  that  paid  an  adequate  salary?  If  a  field 
of  two  or  more  churches  does  pay  enough  to  enable 
the  pastor  and  his  family  to  live  as  well  as  the  average 
member  family  of  the  field,  then  the  churches  have  a  right 
to  expect  the  pastor  to  give  his  full  time  to  developing  the 
churches.  Go  a  step  further  and  say,  they  have  a  right 
to  require  it  of  him. 

It  will  not  be  at  all  difficult  to  enlist  the  pastor  in  such 
an  enterprise.  There  might  be  an  elderly  preacher  here 
and  there  who  has  for  many  years  divided  time  between 
serving  churches  and  farming  who  would  decline  to  give 
up  farming.  But  the  younger  men  would  rejoice  to  see 
the  day  when  churches  would  pay  adequately  for  the  use 
of  their  time  and  talents  and  demand  it  of  them.  Country 
churches  complain  that  the  young  preachers  have  their 
hearts  set  on  city  pastorates.  And  this  is  only  natural. 
These  young  men  have  fitted  themselves  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry  and  not  for  farming,  merchandising,  or 
other  secular  vocations.  They  have  heard  the  call  of 
Christ  and  have  left  the  receipt  of  custom,  the  fishing  nets 
and  plow  to  follow  him.  They  do  not  want  to  go  back, 
they  do  not  intend  to  go  back.     They  believe  that  "they 


88  Kingdom  Building  by 

that  preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel."  They 
go  where  they  can  get  a  living.  A  dear  old  brother  said, 
"We  want  a  preacher  over  at  Blank  church.  We  want 
an  educated  preacher,  a  college  and  seminary  man."  He 
said  there  were  four  churches  in  the  field,  and  that  they 
would  pay  a  $1,000  salary.  They  wanted  a  young 
"settled"  man  with  a  family.  When  informed  that  a 
man  with  a  family  could  not  live  decently  on  a  salary  of 
$1,000  he  said  the  preacher  could  rent  a  little  farm  and 
raise  hie  bread  and  meat.  Furthermore,  if  he  was  the 
right  kind  of  a  man,  he  could  "work  up"  his  salary  in  a 
year  or  two.  This  reminds  us  of  the  horse  that  would  not 
pull  when  the  wagon  was  loaded  until  the  driver  twisted 
his  ears.  It  is  the  business  of  the  church  to  "work  up" 
the  salary,  and  the  business  of  the  pastor  to  "feed  up" 
and  "work  up' '  and  lead  out  the  church  in  broad,  unselfish 
service. 

II.    An  Enlisted  Church 

The  above  caption  may  never  become  true  in  the  super- 
lative degree  when  we  take  into  the  count  the  varied  and 
various  activities  in  which  a  local  church  should  be 
engaged.  Suppose,  then,  we  adopt  a  standard  for  a 
church  to  reach  before  we  call  it  an  enlisted  church. 

1.  In  a  Compact  Field.  It  must  be  in  a  group  or  field 
of  not  more  than  four  churches  in  contiguous  territory. 
Enlistment  includes  cooperation.  One  church  cannot 
cooperate  with  another  or  other  churches  in  a  construc- 
tive way  if  it  is  located  on  the  other  side  of  another  field. 
To  conserve  time,  energy  and  effect,  the  pastor's  field 
should  be  a  unity.  He  cannot  do  his  best  work  under  any 
other  condition. 


North  Carolina  Baptists  89 

2.  A  Resident  Pastor.  The  pastor  must  reside  within 
his  field  at  the  place  where  he  can  serve  best  the  interests 
of  his  family  and  that  of  the  churches.  If  he  has  children, 
he  must  live  close  enough  to  the  school  for  them  to  walk 
to  it  without  any  great  discomfort,  for  he  will  be  away 
from  home  much  of  the  time  serving  the  interests  of 
others.  The  house  the  field  furnishes  for  him  to  live  in 
should  have  every  reasonable  convenience,  because  he 
will  spend  the  bulk  of  his  time  out  amongst  his  member- 
ship. This  throws  the  whole  burden  of  the  home  upon 
his  wife.  Young  women  are  often  warned  not  to  marry 
preachers  unless  they  are  willing  to  undergo  great  hard- 
ships on  account  of  the  frequent  absences  of  the  preacher 
from  his  home.  The  pastor's  wife  is  expected  to  be  a  very 
active  worker  in  church  matters,  but  she  cannot  do  these 
things  with  gladness  and  efficiency  if  she  becomes  broken 
in  health  and  spirit  under  unjust  domestic  burdens. 

3.  An  Adequate  Salary.  A  living  salary  must  be  paid, 
and  paid  promptly,  every  month.  By  a  living  salary  is 
meant  an  amount  that  will  enable  him  to  properly  feed 
and  clothe  his  family  and  educate  his  children;  to  hire  a 
conveyance  or  run  a  car  and  keep  it  in  repair,  and  to  buy 
such  books  and  papers  as  he  may  need  as  aids  in  doing  his 
work  efficiently.  Sickness  and  other  misfortunes,  old 
age  and  death,  come  to  the  pastor  and  his  family  just  as 
they  come  to  other  families.  "Who  would  deny  the  man 
of  God  the  proverbial  "  rainy  day"  purse?  The  pastor 
cannot  do  good  work  if  he  is  burdened  with  anxiety  in 
trying  to  make  ends  meet  and  keep  out  of  debt .  No  refer- 
ence is  made  to  the  "spendthrift"  preacher;  he  is  out  of 
mind  in  the  above  statements. 

When  Jesus  began  preaching  he  laid  aside  the  carpen- 
ter's tools.     He  did  not  go  back  to  use  them  again.     No 


90  Kingdom  Building  by 

man  called  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel  has  the  right  to 
turn  to  other  things  to  earn  a  living,  and  no  self-respecting 
church  or  group  of  churches  which  he  serves  will  force  him 
to  do  it.  Paul  voluntarily  did  so  once,  saw  his  mistake 
and  asked  the  church  to  forgive  him.  See  II  Cor.  11:7-9 
and  12:13.  Many  scriptures  might  be  cited  to  prove  this 
contention,  but  they  are  not  necessary. 

4.  Evangelism,  or  Making  Disciples.  This  is  the  first 
of  the  two  great  requirements  of  the  Church's  commission. 
It  is  not  enough  to  have  an  annual  revival.  Death  claims 
many  lost  people  between  these  annual  revivals  who 
ought  to  be  reached  and  won.  Quietly  but  persistently 
the  quest  for  souls  should  go  on  without  ceasing.  There 
should  be  in  every  church  a  band  of  devout  men  and 
women  studying  and  putting  into  pTactice  Bible  methods 
of  winning  the  lost.  Usually  not  a  word  is  spoken  to  lost 
people  in  a  community  from  the  time  one  annual  revival 
closes  until  the  next  one  begins.  What  a  tragedy  that 
lost  men  and  women  are  left  alone  in  their  sins  a  whole 
year  with  a  church  in  their  midst.  It  is  a  fearful  risk  on 
both  sides.  No  church  is  enlisted  un'less  it  has  a  soul- 
winning  program  as  endless  as  the  need. 

5.  Training  for  Service.  Teaching  those  won  to  Christ 
to  do  His  work.  This  is  the  second  of  the  two  great  re- 
quirements of  the  church's  commission.  It  is  not  theory 
but  the  application  of  a  life  principle  that  Christ  here  re- 
quires of  the  church.  This  principle  is  activity,  work. 
It  is  putting  the  hands  to  the  plow  and  keeping  them 
there.  There  is  no  such  condition  as  spiritual  balance 
for  a  church  or  one  of  its  members.  Either  advance  or 
fall  back,  be  positive  or  negative,  be  for  Him  or  you  are 
against  Him.  Do  and  live,  or  neglect  and  die.  The 
church  at  Laodicea  tried  to  get  on  the  fence  and  be  neither 


North  Carolina  Baptists  91 

positive  nor  negative,  just  colorless,  peroxided,  and  the 
Lord  said,  "I  will  spue  thee  out  of  my  mouth."  A 
church  cannot  sit  astride  the  fence. 

(a)  A  Beginning  Made.  Until  quite  recently  no  actual 
training  in  service  by  the  country  churches  was  being 
done.  A  beginning  only  has  been  made.  It  is  true  in 
religious  work  as  in  any  other  work,  that  we  learn  to  do 
by  doing.  Preaching  services  once  a  month,  a  sort  of 
half-hearted  effort  to  carry  on  a  Sunday  school,  and  the 
annual  revival  constitute  the  activities  of  the  average 
country  church.  We  feel  like  exclaiming,  "How  long,  0 
Lord,  how  long  will  Thy  people  hold  to  such  a  program  of 
inefficiency?' ' 

(b)  Lines  of  Training.  Every  member  should  be 
taught  the  doctrine  of  stewardship  and  led  into  the  prac- 
tice of  it  in  the  use  of  time,  talents,  influence,  and  money. 
Every  member  must  be  set  to  doing,  at  least  a  part,  of  the 
following  things:  praying,  teaching,  soul-winning,  keep- 
ing records,  presiding  over  conferences,  committee  work, 
making  surveys,  financial  canvasses,  visiting — which  is  a 
fine  art — leading  study  groups  in  missions,  doing  personal 
work  and  other  things  as  needs  may  arise. 

(c)  Agencies  for  Training.  In  order  to  do  this  training 
the  following  auxiliary  organizations  within  the  church 
are  necessary:  A  well-organized  Sunday  school  with  a 
Normal  Class  for  training  officers  and  teachers;  a  Tithing- 
Stewardship  band  practicing  and  teaching  stewardship  and 
tithing;  one  or  more  Baptist  Young  People's  Unions; 
a  Woman's  Missionary  Society,  Sunbeam  and  Royal  Am- 
bassadors band;  a  Committee  or  League  of  men  and 
women  for  securing  subscriptions  to  the  Biblical  Recorder 
and  to  secure  and  distribute  denominational  and  evangel- 
istic tracts;    a  Personal  Workers'  League  and  a  Men's 


92  Kingdom  Building  by 

Brotherhood.  The  writer  knows  a  large  number  of 
country  churches,  each  of  which  could  have  all  of  these 
auxiliaries  if  the  membership  were  so  minded.  The 
membership  cannot  be  enlisted  without  these  auxiliary 
organizations  or  others  that  correspond  with  them. 

(d)  The  Physical  Equipment.  The  oblong  meeting 
house  has  outlived  its  days  of  usefulness.  Fifty  years 
ago  a  great  many  dwelling  houses  consisted  of  one  room 
and  a  "loft"  over  it.  The  family  lived,  cooked,  ate  and 
slept  in  the  one  room.  Some  of  the  more  prosperous 
built  a  cook  and  dining  room  in  the  back  yard  of  the  living 
house.  Drive  through  the  country  now  and  look  at  the 
average  dwelling.  No  self-respecting  family  will  live  in  a 
one-room  house  now  and,  thanks  be,  self-respecting 
churches  are  quitting  the  one-room  house.  Nobody 
wants  to  go  back  to  the  days  of  the  log  schoolhouse.  We 
all  know  that  gradation  is  a  law  of  education,  and  it  is  to 
be  devoutly  hoped  that  soon,  now,  the  churches  will  re- 
spect this  law  in  religious  education.  Every  church 
house  should  have  a  room  for  each  class  in  the  Sunday 
school,  except  one,  or  two  at  most,  adult  classes  that  may 
use  the  main  building.  There  should  be  a  blackboard, 
chalk  and  eraser,  and  a  table  in  each  room,  and  chairs 
suited  to  the  age  of  the  pupils.  This  is  the  minimum  of 
equipment.  These  rooms  will  be  used  by  the  various 
other  organizations  also.  Will  any  one  maintain  that  we 
owe  more  to  our  physical  wellbeing  expressed  in  the  build- 
ing and  equipping  of  five  or  seven  room  dwellings  in  which 
to  live,  and  four  to  eight-room  schoolhouses  in  which  to 
train  the  minds  of  our  children,  than  we  owe  to  our  hearts 
and  souls  in  spiritual  culture?  No  tent  or  dwelling 
equaled  the  tent  of  the  tabernacle,  nor  house  the  temple 
in  costliness,  equipment  and  beauty.  Churches  cannot 
go  on  longer  in  this  way  and  have  clean  skirts  and  a  clear 


North  Carolina  Baptists  93 

conscience.  The  enlisted  church  will  arise  and  build  a 
suitable  house  for  worship  and  the  training  of  its  member- 
ship. 

III.     An  Annual  Program  for  the 
Enlisted  Church 

Every  good  business  man,  company  or  corporation 
makes  an  annual  survey  of  his  business,  usually  spoken  of 
as  an  inventory.  Every  Baptist  church  ought  to  do  the 
same  thing.  Many  changes  occur  within  a  year.  In  a 
way  the  pastor  and  many  members  of  the  church  are 
cognizant  of  these  changes,  but  no  one  of  them  knows  the 
exact  status  of  the  community  in  its  relation  to  the  church. 
There  are  some  changes  and  conditions  of  which  they 
know  nothing. 

1.  The  Community  Survey.  A  careful  survey  of  the 
community  with  the  use  of  properly  prepared  cards*  will 
reveal  many  changes  and  a  goodly  number  of  unknown 
and  valuable  facts.  The  tabulating  of  these  facts  fur- 
nishes a  basis  for  making  out  a  program  of  activities  for 
the  following  year.  Every  member  of  the  church  ought 
to  be  actively  engaged  along  some  line  of  Christian  work, 
but  without  a  program  big  enough  to  include  the  whole 
membership  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  find  something  for 
each  one  to  do.  If  a  survey  is  not  made  a  correct  program 
cannot  be  worked  out. 

2.  The  Financial  Canvass  and  the  Church  Budget.  Once 
a  year  the  pastor  and  deacons  and  the  finance  committee 
— if  the  church  has  such  a  committee — should  meet,  and 
laying  the  program  before  them,  make  out  a  budget  of 
two  parts. 

'Suggested  programs  may  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  survey  cards  at  actual 
cost  by  writing  the  Enlistment  Department,  Recorder  Building,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 


94  Kingdom  Building  by 

First,  the  budget  of  local  expenses.  Include  in  this  the 
pastor's  and  sexton's  salaries;  an  ample  amount  for  fuel, 
lights,  insurance,  song  books,  Sunday  school  and  Baptist 
Young  People's  Union  literature;  Mission,  Sunday  school, 
Baptist  Young  People's  Union  and  personal  work  study 
course  books;  put  in  the  church's  share  of  the  expense  of 
sending  the  pastor  to  the  State  and  Southern  Baptist 
Conventions. 

Second,  the  benevolent  budget.  While  the  75  Million 
period  is  still  on,  this  budget  is  practically  made  up.  But 
there  are  some  members  coming  in  all  along  who  should 
make  their  pledges  to  this  fund.  At  present  this  must 
answer  for  the  second  part  of  the  budget. 

3.  Making  the  Canvass.  An  e very-member  financial 
canvass  is  the  most  satisfactory  and  efficient  method  of 
getting  pledges  for  the  support  of  church  work.  The 
pastor,  or  some  member  of  the  church  who  thoroughly 
understands  it,  should  carefully  and  fully  explain  the 
budget.  Then  the  church  in  conference  should  adopt  it. 
Then  the  pastor  should  preach  one  or  more  sermons  on 
some  phase  of  the  financial  side  of  church  and  Kingdom 
work,  laying  the  duty  of  supporting  the  church  upon  the 
heart  of  every  member.  Canvassers  should  be  chosen 
carefully  and  drilled  for  the  canvass.  The  list  of  mem- 
bers must  be  divided  amongst  these  canvassers  some  time 
before  the  canvass  is  to  be  made.  Care  must  be  exer- 
cised in  this  too,  for  reasons  which  will  appear  to  the  mind 
of  every  one.  It  has  been  found  by  many  tests  that  the 
best  way  is  to  set  a  certain  afternoon  on  which  the  canvass 
is  to  be  made,  and  to  get  every  one  to  thinking  about  it. 
Ask  them  to  remain  at  home  that  afternoon  until  they 
have  made  their  pledge.  After  the  canvass  the  church 
Treasurer  makes  a  record  of  every  name  and  pledge,  and 


North  Carolina  Baptists  95 

as  the  money  is  paid  in  credit  is  given.  Once  each  quarter 
a  statement  ought  to  be  sent  to  every  member,  showing 
amount  paid  on  pledge  and  balance  due,  if  any. 

One  of  the  crying  needs  of  church  work  today  is  for 
good  Business  Methods,  especially  in  the  financial  end  of  it. 
The  same  financial  methods  used  by  the  average  church 
would  in  almost  no  time  utterly  wreck  any  business  in 
which  men  engage.  In  the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred 
about  our  Lord's  wrork,  let  every  church  put  the  very  best 
business  plans  into  the  work  of  the  biggest  job  God  ever 
set  man  to  doing. 

-4.  Paying  in  and  Paying  Out  of  Money.  The  Enlist- 
ment department  is  seeking  to  get  the  country  churches 
to  adopt  the  Scriptural  plan  of  financing  the  Lord's  work. 
It  is  an  obvious  fact  that  all  substitute  plans  are  make- 
shifts and  failures.  Of  course  any  sort  of  a  plan  brings 
in  some  money.  But  the  fact  remains  that  sufficient 
money  has  never  come  into  the  treasury  of  God  to  finance 
the  work  He  has  set  His  church  in  the  world  to  do.  Neither 
has  the  money  been  paid  in  in  the  right  way,  nor  in  the 
proper  proportion  from  the  individual  members  of  the 
churches. 

5.  The  Scriptural  Plan,  (a)  Paying  In.  First,  it  is 
systematic:  "Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week."  Second, 
it  is  all-inclusive:  "Let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in 
store."  Third,  it  is  fair,  proportionate,  equitable:  "As 
he  may  prosper." 

"As  he  may  prosper,"  (Revised  version)  connotes  some 
definite  part.  What  part  or  proportion?  Only  one  Scrip- 
ture answer  can  be  found — the  tithe.  No,  Jesus  did  not 
command  us  to  pay  tithes,  nor  yet  Paul.  Why  should 
they?  Tithing  was  well-nigh  universally  and  scrupulously 
practiced.     If  some  other  proportion  than  the  tithe  is 


96  Kingdom  Building  by 

scriptural  and  right,  why  is  it  not  mentioned?  Some  have 
quoted  2  Cor.  9:7,  "Let  each  man  do  according  as  he  hath 
purposed  in  his  heart."  To  take  this  as  a  guide  is  to  do 
violence  to  the  meaning  of  the  verse  and  to  common  sense. 
Until  the  Lord  reveals  some  other  plan  we  must  go  by 
the  one  He  has  given.  The  tithe  of  the  income  of  all  the 
Christian  people  will  be  ample  to  meet  every  need. 

(b)  Paying  Out.  Make  monthly  remittances.  All  mis- 
sionaries and  general  workers  are  paid  by  the  month. 
This  is  safer  and  easier  and  will  save  embarrassment  to 
the  Mission  Board,  the  Missionaries,  general  workers  and 
all  concerned.  It  will  prevent  that  nerve  racking  work 
at  the  end  of  the  Convention  year  in  the  office,  and  elim- 
inate the  high  pressure  methods  employed  to  get  it;  it 
Avill  save  many  dollars  in  postage  and  printing,  and  thou- 
sands of  dollars  that  always  come  in  too  late  to  be  counted 
in  the  funds  of  the  current  year. 

IV.     In  Conclusion 

The  Enlistment  Department,  the  baby  in  the  organized 
department  family  of  the  Baptist  State  Convention,  is  a 
little  fellow  with  a  big  job.  One  is  reminded  of  a  ten- 
year-old  wearing  his  father's  clothes;  but  let  him  alone, 
he  will  grow.  Again,  it  is  like  a  baby  trying  to  grasp  a 
basketball  with  one  hand. 

The  Enlistment  Department  was  born  for  a  day  like 
this,  when  the  larger  part  of  1,800  country  churches  need 
to  be  permanently  rearranged  into  compact  fields;  to 
build  pastors'  homes;  to  secure  resident  pastors;  to  be 
shown  how  to  pay  living  salaries;  to  train  leaders  for 
every  department  of  work;  to  organize  themselves  and 
train  for  efficiencj^;  to  build  and  equip  houses  of  worship 


North  Carolina  Baptists  97 

adequate  to  the  needs;  to  link  up  all  business  and  social 
life  with  the  commission  they  hold  from  the  Lord,  and  to 
adopt  programs  big  enough  to  cover  it  all. 

These  and  other  things  the  Enlistment  and  Country 
Church  Department  will  try  to  help  the  churches  to  do. 
It  will  require  many  years  of  time  and  patient  work,  but 
it  can  be  done  if  the  churches  want  it  done. 

There  are  now  (1923),  seven  men  working  along  these 
lines.  How  long  will  it  take  seven  to  cover,  just  once,  the 
rural  territory  of  North  Carolina?  From  five  to  eight 
years !  But  to  get  lasting  results ,  the  work  done  must 
parallel  that  of  the  farmer  making  a  crop.  The  field  must 
be  covered  many  times  with  intensive  effort.  Some  time, 
some  time,  the  work  may  be  done.  The  Lord  of  the  vine- 
yard hasten  that  good  day! 

SUGGESTIONS  AND  QUESTIONS  FOR  STUDY 

1.  What  proportion  of  our  North  Carolina  people  live  in 

the  country? 

2.  Mention  the  tendencies  which  take  heavy  toll  of  the 
best  material  in  the  country  churches.  What  is 
your  remedy  for  a  situation  like  this? 

3.  Discuss  the  meaning  of  Enlistment  as  employed  in  this 
chapter. 

4.  Outline  the  activities  of  a  live  enlisted  church.  How 
near  does  your  own  church  approach  these  standards? 

5.  Compare  the  annual  financial  program  of  an  enlisted 
church  with  the  plan  employed  by  your  own  church. 
Which  plan  do  you  regard  as  the  better  one?     Why? 

THE   END 


DATE 


6, 


aptishL 


JfcoJ  KArcici  I 


This  book  must  not 
be  taken  from  the 
Library  building. 


Form  No.   471 


